Set on a rolling lawn overlooking the Kennebunk River, surrounded by beautiful gardens the Captain Lord Mansion exudes elegance. Captain Nathaniel Lord, a wealthy ship builder, built his home in 1812 in Kennebunkport Maine. He spared no expense hiring housewright Thomas Eaton to build it in the Federal style and decorated the home’s interior with sumptuous satin wall coverings and Empire style furnishings.
Thomas Eaton was well known in the Kennebunks having designed two other Federal buildings; Wallingford Hall and the Taylor-Barry House in 1804 and 1805 respectively. Today the Taylor-Barry House comes under the auspices of Historic New England, the gardens at Wallingford Farm are open for tours.
Due to the British coastal blockade during the War of 1812 Capt. Lord could not build any ships. He put his shipwrights to work on his house having them carve the intricate exterior and interior moldings.
Sadly the captain did not live to enjoy his home for long, he died in 1815 at the age of thirty-nine. His wife Phoebe would raise their nine children there alone.
In 1898 Capt. Lord’s grandson, Charles Clark, did an extensive renovation of the house. Charles contracted architect William Ralph Emerson to design the present three story addition. Emerson removed the original ell, added the elliptical staircase in the front, the hallway arches, and the hand-grained doors all the while retaining the original 1812 Federal style architectural features. In what is now the gathering room Emerson installed a bay window with a curved window seat, high-Victorian wainscoting, target door moldings and the beamed ceiling.
The house was in the Lord family until 1972 when Capt. Lord’s great-granddaughter, Lucy Clark, was forced to liquidate the estate, selling the furniture, to pay the taxes. The house languished in obscurity until 1978 when Bev Davis and Rick Litchfield purchased it.
Bev and Rick started work immediately to bring the house back to its former glory. Doors, floors and woodwork, were stripped of layers of paint exposing gleaming oak, the twenty two fireplaces, original to the inn, were repaired and upgraded to gas.
Using old photographs showing the interior of the mansion and pouring over restoration books Bev and Rick were able to replicate the 19th century wall coverings and paint colors.
Paintings by artists such as Madjid, Herman Veger, Henri Dupre, Josef Arentz and Manuel Vicario decorate the walls. Tucked into nooks and crannies are elegant 19th century tall clocks, chests and high-boys. The late 1800’s Chippendale dining table with matching chairs and sideboard in the downstairs gathering room belonged to the Clark family.
Each of the inn’s guest rooms are decorated with 19th century four-poster beds, while the four poster Empire bed in the Ophelia room, dating to 1830, belonged to the Lord family.
When Capt. Nathaniel Lord built his home almost 200 years ago little did he know that his Mansion would be placed on the National Register of Historic Places and become one of the premier inns on the Maine coast.
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Captain Lord Mansion
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Taylor-Barry House
Wallingford Farm
Comments
Charles Peter Clark, President of the Hartford New Haven Railroad, had children. His daughter Susan, "Sally" Clark married Edward G. Buckland.
Buckland became the Vice President of the Hartford New Haven Railroad. He was responsible for the construction of South Station in Boston MA.
Among his children is Julia Tyler Buckland. She married Harrison Fuller of Minnesota. They had one child, Lucy Harrison Fuller.
Lucy H. Fuller married Dale Dwight Parry of Syracuse New York.
Lucy F. Parry bore four children, Juliet M. Parry, Elizabeth A. Parry, William G. Parry and James E. Parry.
Upon the death of Julia T. Fuller, Lucy inherited the house.
She sold the house in 1972.
Respectfully,
Juliet Parry Johnson
Ask the innkeepers to send you the written information they have on the inn. You will see that it reads "Lucy Clark" and that Nathaniel Lord was a shipbuilder. Here is what they have on their website :http://www.captainlord.com/media/history.html
Yes, it is true what my sister said. And how on Earth did you get the name Lucy Clark???
I got all my information about the inn from the innkeepers. I just double checked what they sent me in print form and they have the name as Lucy Clark. How was I to know any differemt?
Many of your "facts" are incorrect. Sadly Lucy Fuller Parry, not Clark, sold the mansion soon after her mother Julia died. The fellow to whom she sold it desecrated the interior. He removed much of the priceless original wall paper to the dump, sold the font lawn to the town, and in general let the house fall to disrepair until he sold it in i978. Fortunately Bev and Rick rescued the "fine old home" and did a great job restoring it. Captain Lord was not a ship builder but a merchant who sold goods on the Atlantic trade routes. He built the house with ships' carpenters , hence every little nook and cranny has a small ship like drawer or cubby hole. It was said that the house would float. The Captain could afford to build the house because he was fortunate enough to get the last ship loads of salt in before the blockade of 1812. Salt was needed to preserve food and fish. Demand for salt exceeded the supply, so he did rather well selling salt. Enough to buy two houses and have them moved to other parts of the town. He built his Mansion with his ships' crews to keep them busy, on the highest point in K'Port. It had a widow's wall that could be accessed by anyone in town at any time to see what ships were coming into port. You should research the history of the house. It's very interesting.
I got my information directly from the innkeepers and some from their website. http://www.captainlord.com/media/history.html
Dear Fran,
I looked through out the website of this article and couldn't find a way to reach you off list. I googled your name as well but couldn't find an easy way, my apologies.
I am sure the Lucy "Clark" thing is a typo. The Inn owners met my mom.
If you happen to go the house, the side entrance that is now used as the formal entry has a big geneology picture. There it has my mom at the bottom of the family tree. Her name is correct there. It hasn't been updated to reflect her death.
If it is important or interesting you are welcome to contact me off list. I am not pulling your leg about her name.
All the best, juliet
This link is under construction and returns the reader to the home page.
http://www.captainlord.com/media/history.html
.
Hi,
In one of your previous notes you commented how was I to know any different?
I googled the names being discussed and found these documents at the mystic seaport museum.
http://library.mysticseaport.org/manuscripts/coll/coll140.cfm
The link should come right up. It is very interesting and helpful.
I love that public records now are really public.
Wishing you well in this holiday season,
Juliet
Hi Juliet,
Thank you very much for your information. I do plan on visiting the inn again in late winter and will search out the geneology picture and talk with the innkeepers.
Happy Holidays!
Fran
Juliet,
Would love to hear from you (debi.vdweijde@excite.com). I am the granddaughter of Ed Buckland's youngest sister, Hazel Buckland van der Weyde. My dad spoke very highly of "Uncle Ed" when Dad was alive.
Hi, Juliet? I've been trying to do some research on this family, because my boyfriend's maternal grandmother was said to have been a descendant of Nathaniel Lord and supposedly had lived in the mansion as a child. I can't seem to find records down to the time she was born (1904). And I'm not sure if her maiden name was Lord or not. Could you point me in the direction of more detailed information? Maybe there is a pic online somewhere of that genealogy picture? Her married name was Margaret L. Malnight, and she lived in Michigan as an adult, if that helps at all? Thanks for any info you can give me.
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