Castine Historical Society Receives Maine Preservation Honor Award

December 1st, 2017

The Castine Historical Society has been recognized for its preservation and restoration of a Greek revival house erected in 1850 by Samuel P. Grindle, a ship carpenter. Maine Preservation’s coveted Honor Award recognizes excellence in historic preservation throughout the state.  The award highlights the importance of preservation, rehabilitation, and adaptive use of important historic Maine landmarks for revitalization, and community improvement.

The Society was motivated to acquire and restore the Grindle House because of its prominent location on the town common, adjacent to the Society’s headquarters in the Abbott School (1859).  Funding for the project came from a generous bequest by Deborah Pulliam who was devoted to the cultural life of Castine and its historic architecture.

With the house restored to its mid nineteenth-century appearance, a new addition in the form of a traditional Maine barn was erected to create a high-security, fireproof, temperature and humidity controlled archival storage facility fitted with high density, mobile shelving.  Castine’s first geothermal system services the entire property.

The professional team included Christopher Glass, RA (Camden, ME), Stephen C. Shea, general contractor (Ellsworth, ME), Amy Cole Ives, Sutherland Conservation & Consulting (Augusta, ME), Criterium-Brown Engineers (Bangor, ME), and Gail Caskey Winkler, FASID (Castine, ME, and Philadelphia, PA).  The award was presented during the Maine Preservation annual meeting at the Portland Country Club in Falmouth on November 7, 2017.