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Forward Facing

The Campaign to Preserve Victoria Mansion for the Ages

Restore. Conserve. Enlighten.

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.

Preserving this iconic building and restoring its unparalleled collection of furnishings and decorative finishes requires constant and expert attention. But such work is vital to preserving our collective history.

A Regional, National, and International Treasure

A recent visitor described the house as “shimmering with potential,” a reminder that Victoria Mansion is not just about the beauty of the building and its collections, but about its ability to inspire curiosity and offer meaningful and thought-provoking encounters with the past. To make the most of this rare survivor from the eve of the Civil War, we need to take a forward facing approach to its future.

Over the next five years, we will transform the Mansion into a beacon for scholarship, engagement with the arts, and hands-on preservation, while bringing the building nearer to its 1860 appearance and propelling the organization toward its full potential.

The success of the Forward Facing Campaign will make it possible for us to complete this important work, while placing the Mansion’s educational, curatorial, and outreach efforts on a solid foundation for generations to come.

Campaign Priorities

As a result of a generous bequest, over half our fundraising goal is already realized. We are now focused 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.

Ways to Support the Campaign

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:

Restoration
Conservation
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

Create Your Legacy at Victoria Mansion by supporting the Forward Facing Campaign with a Planned Gift.

We would be pleased to talk to you about ways you can do so and ensure that your intentions will advance the Forward Facing Vision of Victoria Mansion.

Planned Giving Letter of Intent

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.

Maine State Historian and Honorary Chair, Victoria Mansion Forward Facing Campaign

“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 hands of time. But the greatness of the house has brought out the best in the organization.”

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.”

Victoria Mansion Mission

Our mission is to conserve, maintain, and restore the Victoria Mansion property and collections to the highest standards and to interpret them in the social and historical context to a local, state, and national audience

We hope you will join us in our mission to extend the life and story of Victoria Mansion for the benefit of visitors, historians, students, researchers, preservationists, and our community alike.