Castle Tucker Contributed
Free guided tours will be given at the annual Open House at Historic New England’s Castle Tucker and the Nickels-Sortwell House on Saturday, June 4.
Tours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the last tour leaving at 3 p.m. All visitors must follow current state COVID-19 guidelines and follow social distancing rules.
Castle Tucker, located at 2 Lee St. in Wiscasset is a mansion that was owned by the Tucker family, who lived there for 150 years. The house was built in 1807 for one of Wiscasset’s most prominent citizens, lawyer and judge Silas Lee. Visitors will hear stories of how servants enabled the Lees to live an elegant lifestyle.
In 1858, Richard Tucker, Jr. bought the house for his growing family. The Tuckers updated and redecorated the house, transforming it into a Victorian mansion in the Italianate style. Very little was changed in the house after 1900, including a kitchen with four generations of kitchen technology still in place where it was used.
Nickels-Sortwell House Contributed
The Nickels-Sortwell House, at 121 Main St. in Wiscasset, began life as the trophy house of shipping magnate Capt. William Nickels at the height of Wiscasset’s fortunes as a thriving seaport in 1807. This year, visitors will hear new stories about the lifestyle of the Nickels’ family and its cost as told by servants and family members.
The Belle Haven, as it later became known, became popular with locals and visitors from throughout the country and Europe until it was purchased in 1899 by Alvin Sortwell, a successful industrialist and former mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The mansion then became a summer home for the Sortwells’ family.
For more information about Castle Tucker and Nickels-Sortwell House, visit HistoricNewEngland.org or call (207) 882-7169.
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