Ticket Prices
General Admission In-Person: $30
General Admission Virtual: $20
Morven Member In-Person: $20
Morven Member Virtual: $10
Student In-Person: $20
Student Virtual: $10
Interested in series tickets? Learn more here.
Setting to one of the most wide-ranging careers in the history of American politics, The Blaine House is an architectural gem and home to Maine’s governors and their families.
In 1862, three decades after the home was built by Captain James Hall in the early 1830s, James and Harriet Blaine moved into what would become the Blaine House. The home became the setting for one of the most meteoric careers in American politics, during which James Blaine served as Speaker of the Us House of Representatives, US Senator, Secretary of State, and Republican candidate for president in 1884. After the deaths of her parents, the Blaines' daughter Harriet Blaine Beale gave the house to the state in 1919. Since 1920, it has served as the official residence of the state's governors and their families. Architecturally, it reflects a combination of Federal, Victorian, and Colonial Revival styles. The grounds and gardens were designed in 1919 by landscape architect Carl Rust Parker in association with the Olmsted Brothers.
This illustrated hybrid talk will be presented virtually from Maine by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., the Maine State Historian.
All talks begin at 6:30 p.m. in Morven’s Stockton Education Center. Doors and the virtual waiting room open at 6:00 p.m. A Zoom link will be sent to all virtual participants upon registration. Light refreshments inspired by each state will be provided for in-person attendees.
About Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
A native of Portland, Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. attended Deering High School, Colby College, and Boston University and was the recipient of honorary degrees from Bowdoin College and the Maine College of Art. He became architectural historian for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission in 1973 and director in 1976. He retired from that position in 2015. Mr. Shettleworth has lectured and written extensively on Maine history and architecture and has served as State Historian since 2004.
This program is sponsored by Courtney Lederer and Mark Thierfelder. The 2024 Grand Homes & Gardens Speaker Series Sponsor is Bryn Mawr Trust.
FOR MORVEN MEMBERS: Please note that you must login into your Morven Member account in the upper righthand corner of the registration page in order to access the member rate.
Photo credit: The Blaine House, Maine’s governor’s mansion. Creative Commons license.