Victoria Mansion

Preservation Trades Training: Historic Woodworking
2025-04-21 09:00 - 2025-05-02 16:00 (America/New_York) | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Explore a hands-on program designed for tradespeople in the Portland, Maine area. This training boosts basic carpentry knowledge for work on older and historic buildings. The focus will be on exterior woodwork details and takes place onsite at Victoria Mansion.
This training program is for tradespeople actively working in the greater Portland, Maine area. The objective of the training is to boost their basic carpentry knowledge and skills into the field of work on older and historic buildings. The training will focus on exterior woodwork details and takes place onsite at Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland. Download the overview flyer here.
Program Summary
This training program is for tradespeople actively working in the greater Portland, Maine area. The objective of the training is to boost their basic carpentry knowledge and skills into the field of work on older and historic buildings. The training will focus on exterior woodwork details and takes place onsite at Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland. Download the overview flyer here.

Download an informational flyer about the workshop here.
Access the application here.
Questions about this workshop? Please contact Executive Director Tim Brosnihan at tbrosnihan@victoriamansion.org or (207) 772-4841 ext.100.

Preservation carpenters
Preservation carpenters are knowledgeable tradespeople. Essentially, they combine traditional woodworking knowledge and skills with modern carpentry practice. They do this with thoughtful study and creative work.
Traditional trades manuals document specific methods and materials to construct these older and historic buildings. The modern practice of carpentry is largely one of installing pre-designed and pre-manufactured parts. Preservation woodworking is a creative process that begins with determining what needs to be done.
For example, a moulding is missing and must be made to match an original so its profile is documented with a drawing and measurements. Then, the moulding is made out of basic materials, like a board of rough-cut wood; the process then involves shaping it, creating a finished moulding, then installing the moulding to re-establish the weather envelope of the building.
According to instructor John Leeke, “The enlightened preservation carpenter brings both traditional knowledge and modern practice to bear on these fine old structures to preserve their historic significance.”
This project is being supported in part by the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior and Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
Schedule
Two weeks of ten full-time days, 9:00am-4:00pm, April 21 – May 2, 2025. This includes hands-on work at Victoria Mansion, with evening reading assignments and study.
Application & Selection
Tradespeople can apply for the training by responding to this questionnaire.
Applications are being accepted through March 25, 2025. Applicants will be informed of their status by April 1.
Five trainees will be selected by an objective procedure administered by Victoria Mansion Executive Director Tim Brosnihan, and workshop instructor John Leeke.
Trainees will receive $1,000 at the end of each week ($2,000 total) for full-time attendance of all days and conscientious application of mind and hand.
Topics of Study

Historic preservation of buildings
Wood science, demonstration of a few topics from Bruce Hoadley’s Understanding Wood
Wood deterioration
Weather envelope of a wood building

Hands-On Exercises

Sizing wood to match existing
Tool sharpening
Making mouldings to match with simple shop machinery and hand methods
Wood Dutchmen and part-by-part replacement
Wood-Epoxy repairs
Sourcing wood
Preservative treatments

Training Manuals
Given to participants as part of workshop:

Understanding Wood by Bruce Hoadley
Practical Restoration Compendium by John Leeke

Outcomes
Each trainee will:

Make and complete a significant woodwork detail, to have as a sample of their work;
Acquire a basic knowledge of the field of historic preservation, and the preservation trades specifically;
Set up and follow an ongoing self-directed training program;
Receive $1,000 at the end of each week ($2,000 total) for full-time attendance of all days and conscientious application of mind and hand.

Victoria Mansion’s 82nd Annual Meeting
2025-04-23 17:00 - 19:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Members of Victoria Mansion are invited to the museum’s 82nd Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025. More information about this year’s program is forthcoming. Members should receive invitations in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Opening Day!
2025-05-01 | ME
Our regular season will run May 1st – October 31st, 2025.
Tickets for our regular season are on sale now.
We look forward to seeing you!
Victoria Mansion is a much-loved Portland landmark, but its significance extends far beyond Maine. Distinguished for its architecture and extraordinary original interiors, it is among the most important homes of the 19th century anywhere in the nation. As an organization, it is our mission to conserve, maintain, and restore this one-of-a kind property and share its history with the public.

Adults: $19.25
Senior citizens (62+): $17.25
College students: $8.00 with valid student ID
Students age 6-17: $6.00
Children under 6: Free*
Family rate: $42.50
Family Rate applies to 2 adults and up to 5 children age 6-17 of the same household
Museums for All – tickets for SNAP/EBT cardholders: $2.00 with valid ID and EBT card, good for up to 4 tickets
Visit the Museums for All website to learn more.
Victoria Mansion members: Free*

Open for Tours
2025-05-01 10:00 - 2025-10-31 16:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Join us for a Tour of the Mansion!
Our 2025 regular season runs May 1 – October 31.
All of our tours are facilitated by trained docents. Depending on the day, tours may be guided OR self-paced; please call if you are interested in finding out which experience is offered on a particular day.
Victoria Mansion, a National Landmark
Victoria Mansion is a much-loved Portland landmark, but its significance extends far beyond Maine. Distinguished for its architecture and extraordinary original interiors, it is among the most important homes of the 19th century anywhere in the nation. As an organization, it is our mission to conserve, maintain, and restore this one-of-a-kind property and share its history with the public.
Getting Here – How to get here, directions, and more.
Requesting a Group Tour – How to request a group tour, bus information, & logistics
Gift Shop – Tickets are not required for shop entry. Learn more here.
Holiday Season Information – Learn more here.

A Celebration of National Textiles Day & First Friday Art Walk
2025-05-02 17:00 - 20:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
National Textiles Day falls on May 3rd, which coincides with our regular season opening weekend. For the second year in a row, we will be celebrating National Textiles Day with a limited exhibition of items from our textiles collection in the rooms for which they were designed. Textiles will remain on view in the Mansion’s rooms from Friday, May 2nd through Sunday, May 4th during regular tours.
Victoria Mansion is fortunate to have over 90% of the house’s original collection, including samples of the beautiful, intricate textiles from nearly every room. These delicate objects are usually housed in our climate-controlled textile storage room on the third floor of the museum and are rarely on public view.
An exclusive preview reception will be held for Victoria Mansion Members on Thursday, May 1st. If you are a current Member, keep an eye on your inbox in April for an invitation! Not a member yet or need to renew? Join any time on our Membership page.
Victoria Mansion will also be offering free admission to view the museum and textile exhibit during the First Friday Art Walk from 5-8pm on Friday, May 2nd. (Capacity limited per half hour, reservations recommended.)
Registration is highly encouraged to ensure entry. Tickets and more information will be available in April – stay tuned!

New Orleans Sunday Brunch
2025-05-18 11:00 - 14:00 | Portland Country Club, 11 Foreside Road, Falmouth, ME, 04105, United States
Please save the date for a spirited Victoria mansion New Orleans Sunday brunch! Hurricanes, Oysters Rockefeller, gumbo, pralines, live jazz music, and more!
We are going back to Victoria Mansion’s roots, New Orleans, to share with you the exciting next chapter of this National Historic Landmark.
We hope you will join us at the Portland Country Club on May 18th.
Tickets are selling fast, and online sales will close May 9.

Closed for Memorial Day
2025-05-26 10:00 - 16:00 | ME
We will be closed on Monday, May 26, 2025 in honor of Memorial Day. We hope you will visit on another day- we are open seven days a week, with the exception of Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

Preservation Trades Workshops: Danforth Street Sketching Tour
2025-06-01 13:00 - 17:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Sunday, June 1, 2025
(Rain date: Sunday June 8)
9:00am to 12:00pm
Drawing for Tradespeople
Drawing is an important skill for preservation tradespeople. These graphic skills help them see the buildings with clarity, and help them communicate with their fellow tradespeople and customers. Tradespeople will receive the famous Mind/Hand/Heart triangle certificate of completion for this important aspect of the Preservation Trades Training Program. Bring your sketchbook or clipboard and pencils. Bring your lunch if you intend to also go on the afternoon sketching tour.
1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Free to the public: Sketching tour on Danforth Street
Sunday afternoon we’ll start at Victoria Mansion and saunter down Danforth Street, to observe, appreciate and sketch the historic houses, both grand and modest. Learn about the various historic time periods and architectural styles that contribute to our cultural heritage here in Portland.
No special artistic talent or drawing skill required. Simply looking at old buildings gives you an impression of them. While sketching these buildings you will actually see them in a new light and come to possess a deeper understanding of their shape, form, and design.
The public is welcome at no cost. Bring your own sketchbook and pencils, or clipboard, paper, and pencils.
The sketching tour is part of the Victoria Mansion’s ongoing Preservation Trades Training Program. Past trainees and those interested in future training are encouraged to participate. Sketching and drawing are important skills for preservation tradespeople. These graphic skills help them see the buildings with clarity and help them communicate with their fellow tradespeople and customers.

Tradespeople will receive the famous Mind/Hand/Heart triangle certificate of completion for this important aspect of the Preservation Trades Training Program.

Tour Leaders:
John Leeke, Historic Preservation Specialist
John is a nationally recognized preservation tradesman and educator. John was recently honored by Traditional Building Magazine as one of the industry’s “top 25 leaders who have dedicated their careers to the classical and traditional styles in outstanding ways that are serving as models around the country.” John is the lead instructor for our local Preservation Trades Training Program
Tony Taylor, Drafter/Designer, Sign Painter/Muralist
Since his teens, Tony has collected architectural salvage and documented historic buildings in photos and drawings. He has worked as a drafter/designer for contractors, cabinet makers, and architects, and written articles and architectural guidebooks for historic neighborhoods in New England cities.

Download an informational flyer about the workshop here.

Member Event: Open Shutters Tour
2025-06-05 17:00 - 19:00 | Visitation in Full Swing at the Mansion
Save the date!
Members are invited to join us at Victoria Mansion for an exclusive open shutters tour! These rare but popular tours provide the opportunity to see the Mansion’s rooms in full natural light, as they would have appeared in the 19th century. Light refreshments will be provided at this event.
Members: keep an eye on your email inboxes for RSVP details.
Want to join as a Member, or need to renew? Visit our Membership page or give us a call at (207) 772-4841 ext.111.

Juneteenth: Free Admission
2025-06-19 10:00 - 16:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Victoria Mansion is OPEN for Juneteenth. In observance of this holiday, we are offering a community day with free admission and a special exhibit. Thank you to the Rines Thompson Fund of the Maine Community Foundation for their support of our Free Admission Days.
We invite visitors and members of the public to join us to celebrate the final reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, held in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865. We will honor and tell the stories for the twenty-seven individuals known to have been enslaved by Ruggles and Olive Morse in New Orleans, whose lives and journeys before, during, and after enslavement we continue to uncover and share with visitors.
Since 2021, our Unwilling Architects Initiative has prompted extensive research that has begun to discover much about these enslaved persons, whose uncompensated labor in Louisiana contributed to the fortune that built Victoria Mansion. Through this ongoing effort, we endeavor to shine a light on these individuals’ lives and bring their stories into the full human history of this landmark property.
Tour admission is free on Juneteenth, but reservations are encouraged due to museum capacity. To reserve your free admission on June 19th, please visit Tickets for Juneteenth 2025 (For parties larger than 10 people, please call 207-772-4841.)
Learn more about the importance and observance of Juneteenth at Juneteenth.com and via the National Museum of African American History & Culture.

Closed for the Fourth of July
2025-07-04 10:00 - 16:00 | ME
We will be closed on Friday, July 4, 2025 for the holiday. We hope you will visit on another day- we are open seven days a week, with the exception of Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

Brownstone Brews & Bites
2025-07-18 17:30 - 20:30 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Celebrating our 19-year partnership with Allagash Brewing, our summer fundraiser Brownstone Brews & Bites returns to the Mansion lawn on Friday, July 18 from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. Enjoy bites from Cheese Louise and music by the Dapper Gents.
Food, beverage, live music, and first-floor Mansion tours are all included with the price of your ticket. All attendees also receive a free Allagash chalice to use during the event and take home at the end of the evening.
We truly appreciate your support of this annual event. All proceeds from this fun, social evening support the Mansion’s mission to preserve and share this nineteenth-century treasure with the world.
Tickets on sale now!

Member Event: Backstairs Lives Tour
2025-08-14 17:00 - 19:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Save the date!
Tours at Victoria Mansion have always included the Morses and the Libbys, but there was another group who also lived here – their domestic servants. For many years, we knew only minimal information about them. Recently, however, research through the Backstairs Lives Initiative has led to some interesting discoveries about the people who worked for these two families.
Members are invited to join us for a special opportunity to hear about the Mansion as a workplace, not just a home. Who were the people who worked here? Where did they come from? Where did they work and where did they live? This tour will include spaces not usually on public view.
Light refreshments will be served for guests at this event. Due to limited capacity in the featured spaces, RSVPs are required. Members – keep an eye on your email inboxes for RSVP details.
Want to join as a Member, or need to renew? Visit our Membership page or give us a call at (207) 772-4841 ext.101.
Pictured in header image: Nora Steed; Hannah Shine (cook for Libby family); Katie Steed (maid for Libby family), ca.1913.

Closed for Labor Day
2025-09-01 10:00 - 16:00 | ME
We will be closed on Monday, September 1, 2025 in honor of Labor Day. We hope you will visit on another day- we are open seven days a week, with the exception of Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

Member Event: Basement to Tower Tour
2025-09-18 17:00 - 19:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Save the date!
Victoria Mansion Members are invited to a rare opportunity to tour areas of the house not usually on public view. Join Mansion staff to tour the basement, once a vital center of operations for domestic staff, the third floor, today home to collections storage and conservation initiatives, and small group access to the tower. Light refreshments will be served for guests at this event.
Due to limited capacity in the featured spaces, RSVPs are required. Members – keep an eye on your email inboxes for RSVP details. Want to join as a Member, or need to renew? Visit our Membership page or give us a call at (207) 772-4841 ext.101.

Reconstruction’s Restless Spirits: New Orleans Séances, Afro-Creole Mediums, and the Battle for Equality
2025-10-02 17:30 - 19:00 | Wishcamper 133, 34 Bedford St, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Americans turned to the spirit world to make sense of staggering mortal losses and uncertain futures. In New Orleans, Afro-Creole mediums gathered around séance tables to commune with the dead. Voices of fallen soldiers, abolitionists, and Reconstruction martyrs spoke of liberty, equality, and justice—offering both comfort and a radical vision of a new society. Drawing on the séance registers of a group of Afro-Creole spiritualists, this talk uncovers the world of nineteenth-century spiritualism, where ghostly messages became tools in the struggle for racial justice and a reminder that the fight for freedom did not end with death.
Lecture by Dr. Ashley Towle, Associate Professor of History and Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at the University of Southern Maine. Her research and teaching interests include nineteenth-century United States history, the history of enslavement and emancipation, and the history of gender and sexuality. She is the author of African Americans, Death, and the New Birth of Freedom: Dying Free during the Civil War and Reconstruction, and co-editor of Grave History: Death, Race, and Gender in Southern Cemeteries.
This event will be held at Wishcamper 133 on the USM Portland campus. Paid parking is available at the USM garage nearby.
Tickets: $20 for members and $25 for general public

The Spiritualist’s Toolkit
2025-10-09 18:00 - 20:30 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Following the mass death brought on by the Civil War, U.S. citizens were desperate for evidence of a spirit world to glimpse or communicate with lost loved ones. With the advent of technologies like the phonograph and photography, as well as the increasing availability of electricity throughout the country, many alleged Spiritualists, occultists, and mediums began to give grieving (and simply curious) people hope. But how did they do it? Join us for an evening tour, using the Mansion as a backdrop, for tales of the Victorian-era phenomenon of Spiritualism and the heavy influence of death and mourning on Victorian society. Following the tour with be a brief talk and demonstration on the special effects behind the seances that fooled and inspired the public for decades.
Led by Brittany Cook, independent museum professional.
There will be two tours one held at 6pm and the other at 7:30pm. When purchasing tickets please select a specific time.
This event will be held at Victoria Mansion.
Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for general public.

Through the Looking Glass
2025-10-16 17:00 - 19:30 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Join Victoria Mansion and Portland Ballet as we explore six stories from the 19th century that are told very differently in today’s popular culture. Dancers will perform excerpts from their fall ballet, “Alice in Wonderland,” then guests will be led around the Mansion to hear the original stories of tales we all think we know. Stories will include Alice in Wonderland, Dracula, and Frankenstein.
This event will have two time slots, one at 5pm and one at 6:30pm. When purchasing tickets please select a time.
Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for general public

A Fresh Face on the Front Bay
2025-10-17 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-10-18 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-10-18 13:00 - 14:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
We are thrilled to announce that the restoration of Victoria Mansion’s front brownstone bay window, a project ten years in the planning, is now complete.
This transformational project, a centerpiece of the Forward Facing campaign, brings our National Historic Landmark property closer to its 19th-century appearance, turning back the clock 160 years to restore important passages of carving and detailing lost to Maine’s harsh weather. A new series of rooftop balustrades will also be in place, making the Mansion’s front façade complete for the first time since the 1950s.
Please join the Director, Tim Brosnihan, for select tours to hear more about the Front Bay. Tours are free but space is limited.
TOURS:
Friday, October 17th at 4:30pm
Saturday, October 18th at 11am and 1pm
Please select a time when reserving tickets.
Tours will meet on the lawn in front of the Front Bay.

Cabinets of Curiosities: Victorian Wonders of the Natural World
2025-10-23 17:30 - 18:30 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Sometimes natural wonders are just as intriguing as supernatural ones. Learn about “Cabinets of Curiosities,” which date back to the 1500s and were the origins of the modern natural history museum. Cabinets of Curiosities were early ways to organize and display objects of wonder, and sparked eclectic Victorian hobbies of collecting, displaying, and preserving the world around them. Museums opening in this time period drew large crowds of people hoping to be thrilled and educated by the larger natural and cultural world. This talk is given by Lyndell M. Bade, Director of the L.C. Bates Museum of Natural History and Culture, Maine’s own Cabinet of Curiosities.
This lecture will be held at Victoria Mansion.
Tickets are $20 for members, and $25 for general public.

Unwilling Architects Initiative Art Unveiling
2025-10-29 17:00 - 19:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Since 2021, Victoria Mansion has been researching and sharing the stories of the individuals enslaved by the Morses in New Orleans, and how their unpaid labor provided the funds to build this beautiful summer home. Thanks to a generous grant from Coffee by Design’s Rebel Blend Fund, Victoria Mansion has been working with artist Carl Joe Williams to produce a piece of art to bring the stories of the Unwilling Architects Initiative to life.
We would like to thank Indigo Arts Alliance, our Artist Selection Partners, for their support and guidance throughout the process. We are excited to have this work on display, giving us a tangible reminder of the role these individuals played in the Mansion’s history.
Please join us on Wednesday, October 29th as we share this work for the first time and hear from the artist about his process. This event is free, but space is limited. Light food and beverages will be provided.
For more information on Carl Joe Williams, visit his website.

Not Before Bedtime
2025-10-30 18:00 - 19:30 | Emmanuel Chapel at St. Luke’s, 143 State St, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
The Victorian age witnessed a resurgence in Gothic fiction, which was peppered with supernatural and inexplicable events. To experience a true Victorian evening join this storytelling event performed by British actor, Andrew Harris, as Charles Dickens, reading three tales of mystery, intrigue and suspense.
Doors will open at 5:30pm and the performance will begin at 6pm. No late arrivals will be admitted.
This event will be held in the atmospheric, Emmanuel Chapel in the Cathedral Church of St. Luke’s. Paid parking is available in the lot nearby (a mobile device is needed to pay) or for free on the street after 5pm.
Tickets are $40 for members, $45 for nonmembers.
Our sincere thanks go to RBC Wealth Management for their generous sponsorship of this performance and the Mission of Victoria Mansion.

Holiday Season at Victoria Mansion
2025-11-28 10:00 - 2026-01-04 16:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States

Closed Mondays
2025-12-01, 2025-12-08 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
We will be closed on Mondays through the Holiday Season. We hope you will visit on another day- we are Tuesday-Sunday 10-4 with last admission at 3pm.

Stories on the Staircase
2025-12-01 10:00 - 11:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Stories on the Staircase returns! This series of programs for our youngest visitors and their caregivers takes place every Monday morning during the holiday season. Families join us while we are otherwise closed to the public for a holiday- or winter-themed story time, and then get to walk around and preview the holiday decorations in select rooms!
This event is free, but registration is required due to capacity. In the event of a snow day, a notice will be posted to our homepage and social media (Facebook and Instagram).

The Nutcracker Gala
2025-12-03 17:00 - 21:00 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Please join us for a holiday gathering to mark the opening of our 45th annual holiday season.
This year, we are celebrating our longtime partnership with the Portland Ballet and their production of A Victorian Nutcracker, with its backdrop and costumes inspired by the Mansion. Come see how our holiday designers have interpreted this beloved holiday tradition—with a Maine twist!
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
At 5 p.m. at Victoria Mansion
109 Danforth Street for a champagne toast set against the colorful backdrop of the Mansion in all of its holiday finery. You’ll also enjoy holiday musical selections by Goldenwood Ensembles.
From 6:30 – 9 p.m. at the Cumberland Club
Gather at the Cumberland Club, 116 High St. in Portland to feast, sip, and celebrate the magic of the season. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be available.
Proceeds from this festive, social evening support the Mansion’s mission to preserve this nineteenth-century treasure and share it with visitors from all over the world.

Night of the Nutcracker
2025-12-07 17:15 - 19:30 | Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth Street, Portland, ME, 04101, United States
Join members of Portland Ballet as they perform excerpts from The Victorian Nutcracker in Victoria Mansion’s beautiful stair hall. This family-oriented event welcomes the young and young-at-heart. After the performance visitors will have the opportunity to walk through the house, see the decorations, and meet the dancers!
Performances are at 5:15pm and 6:15pm. Please select a time when purchasing your tickets.
