Sayward-Wheeler House
Encyclopedia
The Sayward-Wheeler House in York Harbor
, Maine
, USA, built c. 1718, was the home of Jonathan Sayward, a local merchant and civic leader, who remodeled and furnished the house in the 1760s according to his own conservative taste.
Sayward participated in the attack on the French
fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
, in 1745, served in the Massachusetts
legislature, and, despite outspoken Tory
views, retained the respect of his neighbors during the Revolution.
After his death, his heirs made few changes to the house. In part, this was due to the depressed economy following Thomas Jefferson
's trade embargo of 1807, but the family's reverence for its founding patriarch was an equally important factor in preservation. As early as the 1860s, Sayward's descendants opened the house to visitors to show how their forebears had lived in bygone colonial days.
In the early 20th century, the house was refurbished for use as a summer residence, with new wallpaper
and white-painted woodwork, but the original furnishings and family portraits remained in place. Today, the house is owned and operated as a historic house museum by Historic New England
.
York Harbor, Maine
York Harbor is a census-designated place in the town of York in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,321 at the 2000 census. York Harbor is a distinguished former Gilded Age summer colony noted for its resort architecture...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, USA, built c. 1718, was the home of Jonathan Sayward, a local merchant and civic leader, who remodeled and furnished the house in the 1760s according to his own conservative taste.
Sayward participated in the attack on the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Louisbourg is a community in Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Regional Municipality.-History:The town's name was given by French military forces who founded the Fortress of Louisbourg and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, in honour of Louis XV...
, in 1745, served in the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
legislature, and, despite outspoken Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
views, retained the respect of his neighbors during the Revolution.
After his death, his heirs made few changes to the house. In part, this was due to the depressed economy following Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
's trade embargo of 1807, but the family's reverence for its founding patriarch was an equally important factor in preservation. As early as the 1860s, Sayward's descendants opened the house to visitors to show how their forebears had lived in bygone colonial days.
In the early 20th century, the house was refurbished for use as a summer residence, with new wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
and white-painted woodwork, but the original furnishings and family portraits remained in place. Today, the house is owned and operated as a historic house museum by Historic New England
Historic New England
Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities , is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England and is the oldest and largest regional preservation...
.