Discover 8 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Kennebunk (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Wedding Cake House, Brick Store Museum, and Wallingford Hall. Also, be sure to include Bourne Mansion in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Kennebunk (Maine).
Table of Contents
Wedding Cake House
Historical place museum in Kennebunk, Maine. Once called the "most photographed house in the state" of Maine, the Wedding Cake House, known formally as the George W. Bourne House, is a historic house located at 104 Summer Street in Kennebunk, Maine. The home was built in 1825 by shipbuilder George W. Bourne, who later built a frame barn which he connected to the main house with a carriage house. In 1852, the barn caught fire and the carriage house was demolished to keep the fire from spreading to the house. Bourne, who during a European tour had been impressed by the Gothic beauty of the cathedral at Milan, rebuilt the carriage house and barn in what later came to be known as Carpenter Gothic style. Using hand tools, he crafted five buttresses with pinnacles on top of each. Then in order to tie the new structures in with the existing house, he added six buttresses with pinnacles to the house and then joined them together with intricate woodwork. His only help in doing this was Thomas Durrell, an apprentice ship's carpenter. Bourne spent the rest of his life adding to these embellishments. It has been said of Bourne: "The highly skilled carpenter knew no limits to his skill."[1]
Address: 105 Summer St, Kennebunk
Brick Store Museum
Museum in Kennebunk, Maine. The Brick Store Museum, located at 117 Main Street in the town of Kennebunk, Maine, is one of only a few museums that opened during the Great Depression in the United States. It focuses on preserving the heritage of the Kennebunks through its collections, preservation, interpretation, and exhibition of its material culture. As a history and art center in Southern Maine, the Museum's collections include objects ranging from 19th-century paintings to shipbuilding tools, from 18th-century clothing to contemporary art. It is located in the heart of the Kennebunk Historic District, occupying 18,000 square feet of space in several buildings on Main Street.
The Brick Store Museum's buildings comprise the oldest commercial block in Kennebunk, with structures dating from 1810 to 1860. Prior to becoming part of the museum, these buildings housed the town's first library, a telegraph office, a furniture store, a grocery store, Water District offices, an auto supply store, apartments, a general store, and a fraternal lodge.[2]
Address: 117 Main St, 04043 Kennebunk
Wallingford Hall
Wallingford Hall is a historic house at 21 York Street in Kennebunk, Maine. Built in 1805–06, it is an unusually grand expression of Federal architecture in the town, built by the regionally architect and builder Thomas Eaton, and one of the oldest surviving examples in the state of a connected farmstead. In the late 19th and early 20th century it was also home to William Barry, an architectural historian who wrote extensively on the architecture of southern Maine, and was an early promoter of the Colonial Revival in the area. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[3]
Address: 21 York St, 04043-7152 Kennebunk
Bourne Mansion
The Bourne Mansion is a historic house at 8 Bourne Street in Kennebunk, Maine, United States. Built in 1812, it is a fine local example of Federal architecture. It was owned for many years by members of the locally prominent Bourne family. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 24, 1980.[4]
Lord Mansion
The Lord Mansion is a historic house at 20 Summer Street in Kennebunk, Maine. The multi-part house includes a 1760 Georgian house as an ell to its main element, an 1801 Federal period structure. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 for its architectural significance; it is also a contributing element to the Kennebunk Historic District.[5]
Kennebunk Historic District
Historical place in Kennebunk, Maine. The Kennebunk Historic District encompasses a large portion of the historic town center of Kennebunk, Maine. Established in 1736, the district includes a significant number of fairly high-style houses from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when Kennebunk was at its height as a shipbuilding and maritime shipping center. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.[6]
Lower Alewive Historic District
The Lower Alewive Historic District encompasses a rural agricultural landscape in northwestern Kennebunk, Maine. It includes four farm properties, all originally laid out in the 1750s, between the Kennebunk River to the north, and a street now variously named Russell Farm Road, Emmons Road Extension, and Winnow Hill Lane to the south. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[7]
James Smith Homestead
The James Smith Homestead is a historic house on 5 Russell Farm Road in Kennebunk, Maine. Built in 1753, it is one of the few surviving mid-18th century inland farmhouses in the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is included in the Lower Alewive Historic District.[8]