Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 7 8 1 House of tHe MontH chad LathaM, ListingtunneL.coM Deering High Style the 1868 Leonard Bond Chapman House delivers a storied past and a little panache for $799,000. By CoLin w. Sargent a lfred Hitchcock’s Victori- an mansard relic from the movie Psycho still exists in the Univer- sal Studios’ backlot in Hollywood. There’s a long line to get in. Wouldn’t you rather buy the one in Portland, Mother? The Leonard Bond Chapman House is no less cinematic, and clearly in better shape, than the rheumy wreck in the Hitch- cock classic. Far from being the nightmare setting of very dysfunctional and toxic re- lationships, 90 Capisic Street is a happy family home. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and was a Portland Sym- phony Showcase house, as opposed to be- ing on the horror-movie tour circuit. This “Mansard-style” villa with a grace- ful porch dates to the time in the ‘lost Town of Deering’ when the Chapmans were lords of the manor. This country seat was once surrounded by acres of farmland. While chez Chapman didn’t have broadband in- ternet, they reached out to correspon- dents via carrier pigeons flying in and out from the roof of “The Spring House,” a de- pendency behind the house with a match- ing mansard roof. The birds were released and recovered from a caged gateway that opened in the roof. The main house “is a well-preserved ex- ample of the Style with Italianate detailing,” according to the National Register papers. It’s hard to miss the three-story tower [once capped by lovely iron work] and bay win- dows “covered by entablatured lintels.” Diy MagnifiCenCe Notably, this “statement house” was “self- designed” by first owner Leonard Bond Chapman (1834-1915),” according to Wil- liam David Barry and Patricia McGraw Anderson in their Deering, A Social And Architectural History, “not far from his boyhood home.” Chapman ran a success- ful nursery business before becoming en- raptured by his hobby as a genealogist and historian for the Forest City. A member of Maine Historical Society, he nurtured a “remarkable reputation as an antiquarian, manuscript collector, and historian.” When he died, his bound manuscripts and papers greatly deepened the holdings of the Soci- ety. We are in his debt. weLCoMe inSiDe Today, this “Second-Empire Victorian” is move-in ready. The house has been curat- ed and kept up for generations. Think of George Bailey’s family home after the fix- up in It’s A Wonderful Life; not so much the ‘before’ which welcomed Beetlejuice. All the knob-and-tube electricity has been updat-