Complete West Bay, Victoria Mansion
Victoria Mansion is thrilled to announce that the restoration of Victoria Mansion’s brownstone front bay window, a project ten years in planning, is now complete
This transformational project, a centerpiece of the Forward Facing Campaign, brings the National Historic Landmark property closer to its 19th-century appearance, turning back the clock 160 years to restore important passages of carving and detailing lost to Maine’s harsh weather. A new series of rooftop balustrades are also now in place, making the Mansion’s front façade complete for the first time since the 1950s.
Victoria Mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 using Portland, Connecticut brownstone, an attractive and easily-carved sandstone that was shipped up and down the eastern seaboard during the nineteenth century. While brownstone buildings were common in New York City and beyond, Victoria Mansion stands out as an unusually elegant example, with sculptural details created by skilled carvers working on Portland’s Central Wharf.
West Bay Capital Prior To Restoration
But time has taken a toll on this work of art. More than 160 years of exposure to Maine’s harsh climate have caused the stone to flake and fail in many places. In some areas, richly carved details have eroded away. Nowhere is this more evident than on the front bay window, the building’s most prominent feature.
While Portland brownstone is no longer quarried, Victoria Mansion was fortunate to locate a significant supply of the stone in 2018. This project took advantage of this rare opportunity to restore the bay back to its nineteenth-century appearance.
Sylvain Demonstrating Carving Technique of the Brownstone
Among the most skilled preservationists in the country, our partners included consulting conservator Ivan Myjer of Building and Monument Conservation (Arlington, MA), structural engineers Structures North (Salem, MA), masonry contractors Stone & Lime (North Brookfield, MA), and stone fabricators and carvers Granite Importers (Barre, VT).
According to Timothy Brosnihan, Victoria Mansion’s Executive Director, “This project has been so long in germinating because it is so complex and fraught, with elaborate interior decorative finishes sitting mere inches away from thousand-pound stones requiring surgical removal and replacement.” Brosnihan continued, “Not since the tower project in 2002 have we undertaken such a high stakes restoration.”
Victoria Mansion gratefully acknowledges the support of the following funding partners:
The 1772 Foundation, Inc. in cooperation with Maine Preservation
The Belvedere Historic Preservation Fund
The Cascade Foundation
Mrs. Charlotte F. Brown
The Davis Family Foundation
The Louella and Nicholas Martin Charitable Trust
The Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust
The Sheldon Family
The Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family Foundation
The Elsie & William Viles Foundation
The Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation