Marrett House
Description and history
The Marrett House is located in the village of Standish Corner, on the north side of the Ossipee Trail, just east of the junction with Maine State Route 35. It is a wood frame connected farmstead, with the main house in front, connected via a series of additions to a barn. The main block is 2+1⁄2 stories in height, with a side gable roof, central chimney, clapboard siding, and stone foundation. The front facade is five bays wide, with an entrance vestibule featuring flanking pilasters and a gabled pediment. The building corners are pilastered, and Greek Revival trim is continued on the ells and the barn. The interior of the house retains most of its original finishes, and is decorated with Marrett family possessions, given with the house.
The house was built in 1789 by Benjamin Titcomb, and had at that time typical Federal period styling. It was acquired in 1796 by Daniel Marrett, a Harvard College graduate who moved to Standish to become the town parson. The house he purchased reflected his status as the community's leading citizen. Over the years, Marrett's children and grandchildren enlarged and updated the house but left many furnishings and interior arrangements unchanged as relics of the past. They preserved the southwest parlor exactly as it had appeared on the occasion of a family wedding in 1847. In 1889, the family celebrated the house's centennial by refurbishing several of the rooms with reproduction heirloom wallpapers and bed hangings, and organizing a large family reunion to honor the Marrett legacy.
The house was used to safeguard gold from banks in Portland during the War of 1812.
In 1944, the house was given by Daniel Marrett's descendants to Historic New England. The house is open to the public for guided tours on the first and third Saturday of the month, June though October 15.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ "NRHP nomination for Marrett House". National Park Service. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ^ "Maine Local Government - Town of Standish". Archived from the original on December 15, 2006. Retrieved January 14, 2007.