118 p o r t l a n d monthly maga ine o E o t E o t “K avanagh” is one of the great Federal houses of Maine, built in 1803 by James Kavanagh, the richest man in the district. An Irish Catho- lic émigré, Kavanagh and his friend Mat- thew Cottrill left their native County Wex- ford to escape British oppression and ar- rived in Boston in 1780. By 1788, they’d moved to Newcastle on the Damariscot- ta River in what was then the Province of Maine. There they opened a general store and prospered. Soon they made wise in- vestments in lumber and shipbuilding, as well as the new toll bridge that connect- ed Newcastle to Damariscotta. In 1795, for £1,018, they purchased two lumber mills and a grist mill on 576 acres known as Lith- gow Farm, later adding a fulling mill–giv- ing rise to the name of Damariscotta Mills for the surrounding village. Now a very rich man, Kavanagh began to give back to his community, building St. Patrick’s, the first Catholic Church in Maine. In 1803, the time had come to build a house commensurate with his wealth and position, and in housewright Nicho- las Codd, also a an Irish émigré, Kavanagh found the perfect designer to give shape to his dreams. Little is known about Codd’s early years. His biographer, Andrew Gerri- er, notes that he came to Newcastle by 1801 after his marriage to Margaret Coffin of courtesy of drum & drum real estate