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The Milliken Block in Waterville, Maine
As part of our building history series, today we take a look at the Milliken Block in Waterville, Maine:
In 1866 the Waterville National Bank purchased a wooden building on this site and hired Architect Moses Coburn Foster, a Waterville citizen, to design a bank. The bank failed in 1879-80. After the bank’s failure the building became known as the Milliken Block in honor of Dennis L. Milliken, a prominent local citizen and banker who died in 1879.
O. J. Giguere bought the building in the early 1900s and the “G” lead glass windows for Giguere’s Clothing are still present today. At one time Atkins Print Shop occupied the premises, and later the Silver Street Tavern. Today the Midnight Blues Club occupies the first floor and offices and residences are on the upper floors.
Source: Waterville Main Street
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Commercial Building in Bridgton, Maine
The town of Bridgton, Maine has been added to the town picture gallery. Enjoy!
There are now 44 towns featured in the town picture gallery.
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Rockland, Maine
This Old House just released their “Best Old Neighborhoods 2012: Northeast” and three Northern New England towns (out of 13) make the list–Rockland, Maine, Keene, New Hamshire, and the Five Sisters Neighborhood in Burlington, Vermont.
They actually use a very geographically expansive definition of the “northeast” which extends all the way to the Mason-Dixon line, but that just makes it all the more impressive to be on the list.
Here is their answer for “why buy here” in Rockland, Maine:
In the past couple of decades, Rockland has shaken its image as an insular commercial fishing community by redefining itself as a popular tourist destination that’s also attracting full-time residents. It’s home to the North American Blues Festival in July and the Maine Lobster Festival each August. Rockland is the location of the Farnsworth Art Museum, which boasts more than 10,000 paintings by American masters, including Maine’s own, the Wyeths: Andrew, N.C., and Jaimie. There are also plenty of sailing, hiking, and skiing opportunities.
Here is their answer for “why buy here” in Keene, New Hampshire:
Great schools, plentiful nearby nature (3,165-foot-high Mt. Monadock is 20 minutes away), and a close-knit community spiced with the energy of a college town means that for those looking for a lively pace, Keene has everything you need.
Here is their answer for “why buy here” in the Five Sisters Neighborhood in Burlington, Vermont:
“The neighborhood has seen a dramatic revival over the past decade,” says Burlington resident Devin Colman. “Older residents are selling to young families, who are restoring and renovating the houses.” Five Sisters is a pleasant, mile-long walk to bustling downtown Burlington (pop. 42,000) with its wealth of attractions, including shops, yoga studios, gourmet markets, and of course places to drink and dine, as well as three colleges, including the University of Vermont. There’s also plenty of sailing and kayaking on Lake Champlain.
Congratulations to these towns/neighborhoods 
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Highland View Apartments in Bridgton, Main
Update: Thanks to a regular reader via our Facebook page, we want folks to know that we have learned that the current owners are working to improve this building and we applaud them for that. We understand that buildings change ownership over time and that the current owners may have had nothing to do with the current state of the building.
That being said, our purpose of doing the post is educational in order to point out to others how and why vinyl and historic buildings do not mix–ever. We hope that we can discourage, even if just a single owner, from performing “renovations” that are just another form of blight in our opinion. Folks come “from away” to enjoy our heritage–natural and man-made–but if all buildings start to look the same, well, they can get that at home.
Original post: As a preview of coming attractions, we are currently working on adding Bridgton, Maine to our town picture gallery . . . stay tuned. However, while perusing the pictures we noticed a “renovation” of an apartment building–the Highland View Apartments–on main street that just set our blood to boiling . . . the Vinyl-Vandals had clearly struck again.
Take a look at the picture above and note the types of vinyl-vandalism that you can see. Here is our list:
- The vinyl-siding extends beyond the window framing. This is usually caused by the addition of a sheet of styrofoam insulation prior to putting on the vinyl-siding. As a result, the windows look like tired, sunken-in eyes.
- As if the cheap-looking vinyl-windows weren’t bad enough, they left the old 6-over-6 windows in the top floor which serves as a reminder of how good the windows use to look. And who though it would be a good idea to have dark green trim against white vinyl-windows?
- Keep in mind that this is the side of the building facing main street, which leaves one wondering why they decided to put the TEN electric meter boxes on that side of the building? Adding insult to injury, the vinyl has been removed in parts exposing the underlying styrofoam insulation.
- A piece of vinyl is missing as well as one of the corners on the left side. This is probably due to the nails being to short to accommodate the extra layer of styrofoam. We’ve removed vinyl-siding like this and the nails had barely penetrated the old clapboards (the good news was that few of the clapboards had split). Needless to say, loose vinyl is no match for a Nor-easter.
- The back deck/fire escape looks like a jail cell from the street. We certainly understand the need for fire escapes, but why do they always have to look so utilitarian which inevitably clashes with the elegant lines of the building? Though not so much in this case since any elegance in this building has been suffocated by styrofoam and vinyl.
- If you are going to start to paint the eaves of a building . . . please finish the job! We can’t tell you the number of buildings we’ve seen with half painted eaves. Drives us nuts
Yet, there are some good features. We always love a good granite foundation and the granite retaining wall really says “New England.” And finally the top floor and half-painted eaves provides a good clue to hidden charm of the building.
It’s too bad really, because the picture below shows you the incredible view from the building which overlooks Shorey Park and Highland Lake beyond . . . what do you think, did we miss any ugly?
And if you’ve seen any egregious examples of vinyl-vandalism in your area–do share in the comment section below . . .
Shorey Park and Highland Lake in Bridgton, Maine
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25 Bond Street in Augusta Maine
This is a sad tale of an historic house and street in limbo. The Bangor Daily News recently reported on the ongoing saga of 25 Bond Street in Augusta, Maine which has been in the city’s possession for over a decade:
The city plans to enlist neighbors, downtown advocates and historic preservationists as officials try to figure out what to do with the historic but dilapidated and cheaply built former millworker house at 25 Bond St.
The city-owned house, vacant since 1999, in considered by many to be a significant and unique example of millworker housing.
However, the owner of a neighboring building has told city officials it is a hazardous eyesore making it hard to attract tenants to his building next door, and should be torn down, according to city councilors.
Research done in 2004 when a city committee studied what to do with the mustard-yellow building, which now has painted-on fake windows, could not pinpoint when it was built but determined that it probably was built sometime between 1875 and 1878. It was built on the property of Sprague Manufacturing Co.
The house is believed to have been built for millworkers, many of whom came to Maine from Quebec to work at the cotton mill that would later be owned by Edwards Manufacturing Co. Other homes and apartment buildings also were constructed on the street and on Sand Hill to house the thousands of workers employed at the mill.
The city bought the house in 2000, for $14,500, from St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, which had been willed the house at the death of its previous owner, John Dienaltoski.
The 2004 study committee concluded the time was not right to conduct a major restoration of the building, but recommended the city keep possession of it.
A 2007 report by a committee charged with studying the future and potential for revitalization of Bond Street, a very short street running between Water Street and Mount Vernon Avenue, recommended the city sell 25 Bond St. but require, through a preservation easement, that the new owner restore and maintain the building “to its historic 19th Century character.”
We’re not sure what the hold-up is on selling the house with the preservation easements. That sounds like a reasonable plan and vital to maintaining the historical integrity of Bond street.
Having driven on Bond street many times, we have always been struck by the underlying cohesiveness of the buildings. As you can see in the Google Map below, the buildings on the street are in pretty good condition and are all of the same general age and style. Additionally, all of the buildings on the side with 25 Bond Street back up to, not surprisingly, Bond Brook which adds to the desirability.
That being said, Bond Street needs a lot of help since it is a major connector road between Northern Avenue and Mt. Vernon Avenue so it gets a lot of traffic for a short road. The geography of the area with Northern Avenue shooting up a hill and Bond Brook means Bond Street is the only option for traffic to switch between roads. Naturally, this traffic reduces the desirability of Bond Street as a residential area.
To add desirability, the city should look at doing three things:
- First, there has been some nice sidewalk work on Water Street (which becomes Northern Avenue) that needs to be extended up Bond Street. It’s been awhile since we’ve been through there so perhaps this work has already been done or is in the works, but from the Google Map it is vital that this happens.
- Second, Bond Street should be zoned mixed use so that some of the buildings can capitalize on the traffic with commercial space. This would bring cars that would parallel park on the street which not only calms traffic, but provides a buffer for pedestrians from traffic.
- Third, add a few sidewalk bump-outs with tree wells would be important for adding needed shade for pedestrians (currently lacking due to the low stature of the buildings), providing safer mid-street pedestrian crossing, and additional traffic calming.
What do think . . . does this sound like a plan? Any other options or ideas out there? Let us know in the comment section below
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