Portland Maine Experiences

Also known as the Morse-Libby House, Victoria Mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer home for two people, Ruggles Sylvester Morse and his wife Olive.This spectacular summer home was designed by the architect Henry Austin of New Haven, CT, and is widely considered one of the finest examples of the Italian Villa style in America. Strategically located near the city’s earliest gas and sewer lines, the house was a model of elegance and convenience with hot and cold running water, flush toilets, central heating, gas lights, a servant call-bell system, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a 25-foot-long stained glass skylight.

In 1940, the house was rescued from an uncertain fate and has been open to the public as a museum since in 1941. Today Victoria Mansion contains over 90% of the original interiors including almost all of the original wall paintings by the Italian-born artist Giuseppe Guidicini. 

As an institution, Victoria Mansion strives to return the house to its original 1860 condition while preserving important evidence of its evolution over time. Thanks to an inventory of the house’s contents from 1893 and numerous historic photographs, it is possible to know with certainty where exactly in the house many objects were placed.

The Portland Museum Of Art was founded in 1882 and has made culturial and economic benefits to the local area throughout its lifetime. Over the institutions lifetime many renovations and expansions have taken place in order to create the modern day museum that is open to the public today. 

In recent years with a renewed focus on audience engagement and accessibility, the PMA has aimed to build on the new wave of energy and support at the museum. They have worked tirelessly to be be a brave space that champions freedom of expression. This has meant dedication to presenting exhibitions and hosting programs that reflect the museum’s diverse communities and audiences, and to create experiences with art that strengthen bonds and bring all of us together. 

Within its walls lived four generations of one remarkable family that made significant contributions to the political, literary, and cultural life of New England and the United States. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), grew up in the house and went on to become one of the most famous men of his time. General Peleg Wadsworth, built the house in 1785-1786, and the last person to live there was Anne Longfellow Pierce, Henry's younger sister. Mrs. Pierce, widowed at an early age, lived in the house until her death in 1901. At that time, in accordance with a deed she executed in 1895, the house passed to the Maine Historical Society to be preserved as a memorial to her famous brother and their family.

Today, the Wadsworth-Longfellow House is a three-story, brick structure set in the heart of Portland's downtown. In June 2002 the Maine Historical Society celebrated the centennial of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House as Maine's first house museum. The house is on the National Register of Historic places. Learn more about the history and architecture of the building and its setting, then visit the pages for each room to take a peek inside. The restoration page provides a description of the 2000-2002 restoration.