2017 Home for the Holidays

Please join us on Friday for our preview reception,
wine, hors d’oeuvres, music by The Teacups, and Live Auction
with local auctioneer Kaja Veilleux
and on Saturday for
our open house and continuing house tour and silent auction.

Please call 354-7029 for tickets.
or send your check to the society at P.O. Box 384,
Thomaston, ME 04861

Cost:

Tickets for Friday night are $20 per person, $18 for members

Friday night tickets are good for both Friday and Saturday
Saturday $10 per person, $8 for members

Why:

Proceeds from this event will help maintain
and restore Thomaston Historical Society’s
Knox Farmhouse Museum, the only
remaining original building of the
General Henry Knox estate.

Who:

We wish to thank Adrienne Burger
for opening her historic house
to the public for this event.

About the House

Morton Lermond House, circa 1847

Doric columns

The 2017 Home for the Holidays house may have been built by either Albert Morton or his brother-in-law, Charles Lermond.

This classic home is an outstanding example of Greek Revival architecture so popular with builders in 19th century Thomaston.

Gable and flush board siding

Doric pilasters (square columns) at the exterior corners, a bold entablature and the use of carvel king or flush board siding (style used on ship hulls) create attractive broad planes designed to resemble the temples of Greece.

With gable-end-to-street positioning, the use of identical porches on either side allow for two distinct entrances.

South porch entrance

North Porch Entrance

Door trim and moulding

The interior is replete with cornices and mouldings throughout, a style that repeats the heavy exterior effect.

Armed with Asher Benjamin‘s Carpentry and Architectural Designs Handbook, a Thomaston shipbuilder had the plans, materials, and the necessary labor along with several streets leading to his waterfront shipyard on which to build.

South stairway

It is believed the house was constructed as a duplex since, divided through the middle, the floor plan is as close as possible to an exact mirror image - including a double parlor separated by pocket doors and back-to-back stairways.

The two families of Lermond and Morton may have lived here together at one time, and in the early 20th century, the two Lermond sisters could have kept separate quarters.

Joshua A. Morton moved from Friendship to Thomaston in 1826 and purchased a large tract of land bordering the east side of Green Street, extending to Water Street. It is believed he built a house on the southern half of the lot at 48 Green Street that was later replaced by this present house. Joshua (1789-1857) married 1st Jerusha Cobb and 2nd Mary Davis and between the two wives, Joshua had 15 children, most of whom are buried in the Thomaston Village Cemetery.

Joshua and his son, Charles C. Morton, purchased waterfront land and established the shipbuilding firm of J. and C. C. Morton on the site later occupied by Morse Boatbuilding Company at 70 Water Street.

Albert Morton, another son of Joshua, also a ship carpenter, worked at the Lermond and Gilchrest shipyard. In 1855 Albert sold two small lots, including the small house built by his father, to Charles Lermond, shipbuilder/carpenter, married to Albert?s sister, Rebecca Morton. Either Albert or Charles - both ship carpenters - are credited with building the impressive Greek Revival style dwelling on the site of Joshua Morton?s original house.

Charles Lermond and his wife, Rebecca, had eight children, five of whom died young. Charles built ships with Lermond, Morton and Gilchrest. His eldest child, Aroline, a dressmaker, married John Gorwaiz in 1886 and moved to Newburyport, MA. Aroline and her sister, Lauretta Tobie, retained the property at 48 Green Street after their father died in 1890.

Aroline returned to live in the house with her sister and niece, Lauretta and Elizabeth Tobie, after her husband died in 1912. Lauretta died in 1929 and Aroline in 1936. Elizabeth and her husband, Sidney B. Lermond, master builder in a Bath shipyard, next lived in the house, which passed to neighbor Dorothy Brennan in 1950 upon Elizabeth?s death. At that point, the property had remained in the family for 124 years.

The Lermond family graves are located in Elm Grove Cemetery.

Antique door bell
with original brass bell
affixed to pull chain

One of two idential newelposts on the mirror image staircases

One of two identical
newelposts on the
mirror image staircases

Sources: Land deeds, Census Reports, Eaton, FLS Morse, Town that Went to Sea, Early Newspapers; article by Samuel Green, Journal of the Soc of Architectural Historians, X, 4, who claims 1847 construction date. Research by Margaret McCrea

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