National Register of Historic Places

Wharf House

North Haven, Knox County, Maine
Listed
October 15, 1991
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
91001508

About this property

The Wharf House is a historic house in the village of North Haven, Maine. Located on a wharf at the waterfront, it is an idiosyncratic expression of Shingle style architecture, built as a canning factory and adapted for residential use in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The Wharf House stands facing the Fox Islands Thorofare on the south side of North Haven Island, at the tip of a point just east of the island community's main dock and harbor area. It is a long rectangular wood-frame structure, built partly on land and partly on a series of granite piers projecting roughly south from the point. It is surrounded by a wooden deck, which is extended as a dock further to the south. The water-facing end of the building sports a curved porch with decorative turned posts and balustrades on the upper level, and large curved brackets below, making it resemble the poop deck of sailing galleons of the 16th and 17th centuries; this porch extends partway along the long sides. The building is clad in wooden shingles, and is topped by a gabled roof occasionally punctured by eyebrow dormers. The interior is largely finished in tongue-and-groove woodwork, with exposed beams in the ceilings. According to local historians, the property was first developed in 1880, when Lewis MacDonald built a fish processing and canning facility. It was serving as a sail loft when it was purchased in 1897 by John Reynolds, Jr. In 1912, Reynolds had the existing building renovated (in a design attributed by the family to H. Deland Chandler) into its present form. It is one of the state's most unusual examples of an adaptive creation of a summer residence. National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Maine

Location

North Haven, Knox County, Maine
44.12690, -68.87049

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Goose Rocks Light Station
Industrial
2.1 mi
Browns Head Light Station
Industrial
2.2 mi
Murch Family House
Industrial
3.2 mi
Pleasant River Grange No. 492
Industrial
3.9 mi
Vinalhaven Public Library
Industrial
5.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Wharf House listed on the National Register?

Wharf House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1991.

What type of historic resource is Wharf House?

Wharf House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Wharf House?

The period of significance for Wharf House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Wharf House?

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