Archive for historic preservation

Preservation Trades Workshops: Danforth Street Sketching Tour

Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025 (Rain date: Sunday June 8)

Join us for free sketching tours on Danforth Street starting at Victoria Mansion. The morning workshop is intended for working trades people. The afternoon is free and open to the public – no experience necessary!

Preservation Trades Training: Historic Woodworking

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…

RFQ: Preservation Trades Training Instructor

Victoria Mansion seeks a skilled preservation woodworker to plan and teach a two-week workshop in April 2025 focused on maintaining and preserving exterior woodwork on older and historic buildings. The class will run for ten eight-hour days and will be limited to five students to ensure significant personalized…

Member Event: Preserving Maine’s Brownstone Masterpiece

Save the date! Members are invited to an exclusive reception focusing on the house’s iconic brownstone exterior. This event will feature a talk by Executive Director Tim Brosnihan about the history of brownstone, from its formation to its quarrying and use in residential architecture. Attendees will also hear…

Window Preservation Trades Training

In early April 2024, Victoria Mansion hosted the first in a series of paid preservation trades training, taught by preservationist John Leeke, author of Save America’s Windows. The purpose of this training program, focused on window restoration, is to train practicing tradespeople in the special knowledge required to…

Historic Perspectives of Park Street Walking Tour (Jane’s Walk Maine 2024)

Explore Park Street, part of the West End Historic District, a well-preserved time capsule that offers a glimpse into 19th-century Portland. This one-hour stroll will highlight some of the people who helped create this fashionable residential enclave – which at the time was considered “the most beautiful neighborhood in Portland.” We’ll showcase the popular architectural styles of the 19th century and learn more about the people who built them and the movements to preserve them during times of urban renewal. Park Street’s history encompasses working-class and upper-class neighborhoods, culinary endeavors, hot-button issues of 19th-century politics, and more.

The walk will end at Victoria Mansion on the corner of Park and Danforth Streets, a singular example of the Italianate villa style and one of the greatest examples of American residential architecture prior to the Civil War. For those who would like to continue the conversation, we’ll wind up on Victoria Mansion’s back lawn for a discussion about four decades of intensive conservation and restoration work at this National Historic Landmark.

Member Event: Victoria Mansion’s 81st Annual Meeting

Victoria Mansion Members are invited to the Cumberland Club for the organization’s 81st Annual Meeting on April 24th. A brief business meeting and election of officers for the upcoming year will be followed by a scholarly lecture by Scott Hanson entitled The Final Flourish – Victoria Mansion’s Missing…

Brownstone Brews & Bites, Brought to You by Allagash

Celebrating our 18-year partnership with Allagash Brewing, our summer fundraiser Brownstone Brews & Bites returns to the Mansion lawn this July! Featuring Allagash beer, Cellardoor wine, Green Bee soda, music by the Pete Kilpatrick Band, catering from Cheese Louise and goodies from Sullivan House Bakery, this annual fundraiser helps…

Preservation Trades Training Programs: Window Preservation

  Victoria Mansion’s Preservation Trades Training Programs Workshop Series #1: Window Preservation Training Program PURPOSE: To train practicing tradespeople in the special knowledge required to preserve older and historic wood windows. FORMAT: 5 to 10 days of daily training in an on-site workspace. LOCATION: Victoria Mansion | 109…