Behind Closed Doors Tour at Castle Tucker Sept. 9

Sat, 08/27/2016 - 8:15am

Come and peek into the nooks and crannies of Castle Tucker on a Behind Closed Doors Tour, Friday, Sept. 9 from 10-11:30 a.m. There is something new to see whether you are a first-time or repeat visitor on this leisurely in-depth tour that includes rooms and stories not included on the general tour. Located at 2 Lee Street in Wiscasset, this unique mansion is filled with the original furnishings and decoration of the Tucker family who lived here for over 140 years. Castle Tucker is one of the most complete and original Victorian homes in the United States. Advance registration and payment is required.Space is limited. Admission is $10 for members of Historic New England, $15 for non-members. To reserve a place, call 207-882-7169 or visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org.

Castle Tucker is an unusual style house with a square Federal style center and two rounded bow ends, built in 1807 by one of Wiscasset’s most prominent citizens, lawyer, Congressman and Judge Silas Lee. In 1858, Captain Richard Tucker Jr., scion of a prominent Wiscasset shipping family, bought the house for his new and growing family. The Tuckers updated and redecorated to reflect the fashions and styles of their time, much of it in a style popularized by one of the earliest American lifestyle connoisseurs, Andrew Jackson Downing.

Very little was changed in the house after 1900, including a kitchen with four generations of kitchen technology still in place where it was used. Preserved by three generations of Tucker women, Castle Tucker is a historic house museum shown as the family left it in 1997 when they gave it to Historic New England.

For a full program calendar and more information on their collection and thirty-six historic house museums across five states, visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org.