Mechanic Place, a Greek Revival double-house behind Bubba’s Sulky Lounge, as it appears today. Contributed / Darren McLellan

For many Portlanders, Bubba’s Sulky Lounge holds intrigue, charm and history. But for amateur historian Darren McLellan, the real curiosity sits behind Bubba’s in the form of an old gray house.

“My first thought was ‘Wow! That’s old!’ Followed directly by ‘Why is it in Bubba’s parking lot?’” recounts McLellan in his blog, “Portland House Stories.”

Following his curiosity, McLellan, a Cape Elizabeth resident, found that the Greek Revival double-house was built 1853 by Benjamin Megguire. Drawing from observations of the house as it stands now, historical photographs, headstones, deeds and census records, McLellan pieced together the history of the home and its inhabitants. The house contained a multigenerational tale of love, birth, death, insanity and the celebrity resident Alice Carle, an opera singer.

This is not the only home in Portland that McLellan has investigated.

The house at 21 State St. is an Italianate in the West End that Darren McLellan researched for his blog, “Portland House Stories.” He found it was built in 1863 by William H. Phillips for Stephen K. Dyer and designed by Thomas Sparrow. Contributed / Darren McLellan

For 10 years, McLellan has run the blog “Portland House Stories,” exploring the architectural history of buildings throughout Portland through extensive archival research. In the decade of digging, he has looked into the histories of 232 houses in Portland. On a typical day, the blog receives about 50 visitors. Over its tenure, it has received over 72,000 hits.

McLellan first began posting online with blog called “Found on the streets in Portland Maine,” where he posted oddities of the city: old cars, funky signs and architectural curiosities that he photographed on walks through the city. In 2015, he posted photos of some houses on Thomas Street that caught his eye, adding some text from research he did from 1924 tax records and architecture books he had on hand.

“People responded. I got more views for that than all the other articles I had posted online for three or four years,” said McLellan, 60.

Given the public response to these blog posts and McLellan’s longstanding amateur fascination with architecture, Portland House Stories was born.

For the following decade, McLellan has consistently been posting photos of Portland homes that are mostly residential and built before the turn of the last century. In the early days of the blog, the posts were mostly photos he took of houses from the street without much historical context. Over time, the inclusions of the houses’ histories became increasingly extensive and narrative as McLellan began using more research tools. He highlights the architectural features of the home, who designed and built it, and who lived there through the decades.

“I love falling down the rabbit hole,” said McLellan.

McLellan’s methodology includes going through Portland tax records, newspaper archives, city directories, deeds and census data. Through his work, he has also done some myth-busting, with deeds showing some buildings to be 100 years older or younger than believed. He has increasingly focused on the lives of the homes’ residents through his research.

“It started out about the architecture, and it really has moved to about the people. It’s much more sociological now,” he said.

Through this project, McLellan has also connected with the living current and former residents of Portland and heard about how a home’s history extends to the present. Under some of his blog posts, readers comment about living in the featured houses or knowing someone who once did.

“It’s really rewarding. In some cases, some of the houses I’ve had several different ages of residents talk about their time or their family’s time there, their memories of being there with their grandparents. Those are really important,” said McLellan.

When selecting a house to research for Portland House Stories, McLellan considers historical significance, local interest, aesthetic value, and what the house may say about the growth and change in Portland over the centuries. Sometimes, his research is just sparked by a house catching his eye.

Cape Elizabeth resident Darren McLellan has always had an interest in the built environment. Contributed / Darren McLellan

“Some of my best stories have just been driving by, looking. I’ll do what I call ‘neighborhood cruises,’ just looking for places that make me go ‘hmm,'” he said.

“I had a couple of friends and family members who, when we drive around, they always like me to tell them stories about what was here in this corner 200 years ago.”

Historic appreciation

Born and raised in Cape Elizabeth, McLellan grew up in a house that his family built. With both his parents coming from lines of builders, paying attention to the past and its structures was a strong part of his childhood.

“I come from a family that really loves history. History was something that was imbued in us all as kids,” said McLellan.

“So the built environment is always something that was in my blood. I like to say I have sawdust in my blood,” he said.

While McLellan concluded his formal education in high school, local historians have told him that his historical research is at a graduate level.

“It’s something I like to do, and you don’t need a degree to do it,” said McLellan, who works in shipping.

A decade after he started the blog, McLellan plans to continue it with the hope of bringing his research to different media. He is considering compiling his research into a book or diving deeper into the history of historically influential families in Portland.

McLellan’s perspective on Portland has changed throughout 10 years of intensely studying its buildings.

“My feelings of the city are very, very different now, much more invested. It’s really hard to walk down on the street in Portland, especially residential streets, without all of a sudden starting to read the history of the buildings,” he said.

Now, he can recognize details of homes that spark more connections to Portland’s history and ideas for future blog posts.

“I’ve become able to recognize not just architects, but builders and developers,” said McLellan.

“Just the other day, I just learned about an architect who worked for Portland just after the (Great Fire of 1866). (I’d) never heard of him. So now I’m down a new rabbit hole,” he said.