Forward Facing

Restore. Conserve. Enlighten.

Launched in May of 2025, the Forward Facing Capital Campaign is a 5-year $8 million initiative aimed at creating a world-class institution to steward and share one of the most important buildings surviving from the nineteenth century.

Thanks to the generous support of our loyal Victoria Mansion community, we can report that the campaign has exceeded its initial fundraising goal and that an expanded set of ambitious goals is suddenly within reach.

But we aren’t finished yet. 

Forward Facing – FASTER!

Today we have a remarkable opportunity before us thanks to a generous challenge grant from an anonymous donor. This new initiative, named “Forward Facing-FASTER”, will accelerate our efforts to preserve the Mansion for the Ages, putting an expanded set of ambitious goals within reach.

In addition to an initial $300,000 gift to fund a comprehensive historic structures report, this challenge to raise another $1 million will unlock an additional gift to seed a building endowment. The completion of this challenge will allow us to tackle building priorities FASTER than we dreamed possible.

With this incredible opportunity, imagine some of the immediate priorities that could begin within the next few years:

  • Restoration of our historic chimney
  • Paint conservation projects in the Sitting Room or Pompeiian Dressing Room
  • Rehabilitation of the Mansion’s historic wooden windows
  • Disassembly and painting of the property’s cast iron fence
  • Repair of the sand-painted woodwork
  • Replication of textiles and carpets in the Parlor, Dining, and Reception Rooms

 

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Help us meet the challenge!

Ways to Support the Campaign

To discuss giving options &/or to schedule a tour, contact Ann O'Hagan, Director of Development.

Make a Donation

Support the Forward Facing Campaign with a One-Time Gift.

You may direct your gift to be applied as an unrestricted donation or applied to:

  • The Sheldon Family Exterior Restoration & Preservation Fund
  • The Josephine H. Detmer Interior Conservation and Preservation Fund
  • Education and Research
  • Stewardship/Endowment
Donate

Annual Pledge

Pledges to the Forward Facing Campaign may be made from one to five years and include the following options:

  • Gifts of Cash
  • Gifts of Securities
  • Monthly Gift Over 60 Months
  • Gifts may be unrestricted or directed to the campaign priority that is most meaningful to you.
Download Pledge Form

Planned Giving

We also invite you to consider supporting the Forward Facing Campaign by designating Victoria Mansion in your will. Planned gifts are easy to arrange, flexible, and beneficial to both the donor and Victoria Mansion.

By thinking now about a future gift to Victoria Mansion, you can maximize your own lasting impact on the Mansion’s mission. There are many options that offer financial advantages to you or your family while at the same time ensuring that you will be part of the Mansion’s work for decades to come.

 

Learn More

Latest Campaign News

 

Victoria Mansion celebrates the success of the Forward Facing Campaign and looks to the future

A year of remarkable achievements and a generous challenge grant puts the organization on the path to a strong finish.

 

Honorary Campaign Chair Earle Shettleworth, Jr. addressed a capacity crowd at the second annual New Orleans Sunday Brunch who gathered to celebrate the success of the campaign.

 

Since the launch of our campaign a year ago, there is much to celebrate. As reported by Tim Brosnihan, Victoria Mansion’s Executive Director, the campaign’s progress has exceeded all expectations. Among the successes, Brosnihan reported that the organization has met a $1 million collective challenge and surpassed its initial $8 million fundraising goal.

 

 

Victoria Mansion’s second annual New Orleans Sunday Brunch was held on May 31, 2026 at the Portland Country Club.

 

Hosted by event Co-Chairs Candice Thornton Lee and Robin Webber, the capacity crowd enjoyed New Orleans specialties, Preservation Hall-style jazz by the Hadocal Bouncers, and Garden District decor by Harmon’s Floral Company.

 

 

 

Guests at the New Orleans Sunday Brunch enjoyed the music of the Hadocal Bouncers, including the festive New Orleans tradition of “second lining” throughout the venue.

 

 

 

The Josephine H. Detmer Interior Conservation and Preservation Fund

Established with a generous gift from Zareen Taj Mirza and named in honor of her mother, longtime supporter and friend of the Mansion Josephine “Dodie” Detmer, this fund will support conservation and restoration of the building’s iconic interiors.

During her years of service to Victoria Mansion, Dodie led both the Finance Committee and the Board of Trustees.  She also chaired the Victoria Fund, Victoria Mansion’s first ever capital campaign, from 1983 to 1985.  This newly established fund is a fitting continuation of her legacy of support for this landmark property.

 

The Sheldon Family Preservation Fund: Preserving the Mansion for the Ages

Victoria Mansion will be forever grateful to the late Peter Sheldon and his family for this significant bequest. It has been foundational to the $8 million Forward Facing Campaign and essential to advancing critical restoration initiatives now underway.

In recognition of the Sheldon Family’s transformational legacy commitment to Victoria Mansion, we have established, in perpetuity, the Sheldon Family Preservation Fund.

This fund will ensure that exterior preservation and restoration needs at the Mansion can be addressed at the discretion of the Executive Director in consultation with the Board of Trustees.

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https://youtu.be/cxFTeqkzZxs

“Victoria Mansion is the best surviving example of a pre-Civil War Italianate villa style Mansion. Taken as a whole, when it was completed in 1860 it was at the very zenith of architectural decoration and design. The challenge has always been to hold back the destroying hand of time. But the greatness of the house has brought out the best in the organization.”

Earl Shettleworth Jr., Maine State Historian and Honorary Chair of Victoria Mansion’s Forward Facing Campaign

Watch on YouTube

Campaign Priorities

We continue to focus on the following priorities to bring both the building and organization to their full potential:

Restoration and Conservation

  • Restoring an Architectural Masterpiece ($3.3M): Our goal is to continue to maintain and preserve the Mansion’s iconic architecture and to return the building to its 1860 appearance and realign the building with architect Henry Austin’s original vision.
  • Preserving our Iconic Interiors ($1.2M): To preserve the last intact commission by interior decorator Gustave Herter and decorative painter Giuseppe Guidicini, we have initiated a series of projects to conserve painted decoration and to restore textiles and carpets.

Education and Stewardship

  • Exploring our Past ($1M): Victoria Mansion sits at the crossroads of American history. It is a learning laboratory offering opportunities to engage with the past for those who visit each year.
    • We seek to expand our educational staffing to amplify our engagement with schools across the state and to support a more robust program of historical research, partnering with institutions of higher education in the process.
    • Along the way, we will continue to open new avenues of inquiry while providing hands-on training for the next generation of historic preservation tradespeople.
  • Sustaining our Future ($2.5M): Victoria Mansion is charged with potential, but the organization has long chafed against certain limitations.
    • Our staff is exceptional, but not quite large enough to carry out our most ambitious plans.
    • And while the Mansion itself is grand, the spaces available for offices and modern museum functions are extremely limited.
    • To accomplish this, we must embark on a process of carefully managed institutional growth to support the people and infrastructure that undergird all our work.

Robin Webber

Board Trustee & Volunteer Docent

“It’s all about the Mansion, truly a Portland treasure. As a long term docent and more recently a Board Trustee, it has been rewarding to see Victoria Mansion grow in importance and recognition every year. It continues to be restored to its original splendor, made possible by the commitment of all those who love it.”

Randal Rucker

Board Trustee. Retired Health and Human Services Executive

“Victoria Mansion is the bedrock, perpetual invitation to absorb and appreciate the dedication and skill of its artisans and crafts people, while at the same time contemplating the historical, social and political context that enveloped the country during the Mansion’s construction. The Mansion is the unique embodiment of the human abilities of imagination, survival, adaptation, learning, and reflection. I am grateful for the opportunities Victoria Mansion offers today and I’m excited about the possibilities that will unfold for future generations of visitors – from children and families to scholars and artisans.”

Cynthia Macdonald

Board Trustee and Volunteer Docent

“I’m always inspired by Victoria Mansion. Not only are there lovely furnishings and lovely people, but by conveying our knowledge to others we create a tangible community connection. We all share a desire to understand the present in the light of the past, and by standing in the beautiful space created in the Mansion we strengthen our connections to one another.”

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Connect With Victoria Mansion

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Address

Victoria Mansion
109 Danforth Street
Portland, Maine, USA 04101

Hours of Operation

Open for the season! 

May 1st – October 31st

Open Daily 10am-4pm 

Closed Memorial Day, Independence Day, & Labor Day

Email

[email protected]

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