{"id":14957,"date":"2017-02-09T17:56:26","date_gmt":"2017-02-09T22:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=14957"},"modified":"2020-09-29T10:06:19","modified_gmt":"2020-09-29T14:06:19","slug":"deering-high-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/deering-high-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Deering High Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

February\/March 2017 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

The 1868 Leonard Bond Chapman House<\/strong> delivers a storied past and a little panache for $799,000. <\/span><\/h3>\n

By Colin W. Sargent<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DeeringAlfred Hitchcock\u2019s Victorian mansard relic from the movie Psycho<\/em> still exists in the Universal Studios\u2019 backlot in Hollywood. There\u2019s a long line to get in. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t you rather buy the one in Portland, Mother? <\/span><\/p>\n

The Leonard Bond Chapman House<\/strong> is no less cinematic, and clearly in better shape, than the rheumy wreck in the Hitchcock classic. Far from being the nightmare setting of very dysfunctional and toxic relationships, 90 Capisic Street<\/strong> is a happy family home. It\u2019s on the National Register of Historic Places and was a Portland Symphony Showcase house, as opposed to being on the horror-movie tour circuit. <\/span><\/p>\n

This \u201cMansard-style\u201d villa with a graceful porch dates to the time in the \u2018lost Town of Deering\u2019 when the Chapmans were lords of the manor. This country seat was once surrounded by acres of farmland. While chez<\/em> Chapman didn\u2019t have broadband internet, they reached out to correspondents via carrier pigeons flying in and out from the roof of \u201cThe Spring House,\u201d a dependency behind the house with a matching mansard roof. The birds were released and recovered from a caged gateway that opened in the roof.<\/span><\/p>\n

The main house \u201cis a well-preserved example of the Style with Italianate detailing,\u201d according to the National Register papers. It\u2019s hard to miss the three-story tower [once capped by lovely iron work] and bay windows \u201ccovered by entablatured lintels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

DIY Magnificence<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Notably, this \u201cstatement house\u201d was \u201cself-designed\u201d by first owner Leonard Bond Chapman (1834-1915),\u201d according to William David Barry and Patricia McGraw Anderson in their Deering, A Social And Architectural History, <\/em>\u201cnot far from his boyhood home.\u201d Chapman ran a successful nursery business before becoming enraptured by his hobby as a genealogist and historian for the Forest City. A member of Maine Historical Society, he nurtured a \u201cremarkable reputation as an antiquarian, manuscript collector, and historian.\u201d When he died, his bound manuscripts and papers greatly deepened the holdings of the Society. We are in his debt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome inside<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Today, this \u201cSecond-Empire Victorian\u201d is move-in ready. The house has been curated and kept up for generations. Think of George Bailey\u2019s family home after<\/em> the fix-up in It\u2019s A Wonderful Life<\/em>; not so much the \u2018before\u2019 which welcomed Beetlejuice. All the knob-and-tube electricity has been updated. There\u2019s a new boiler and a contemporary kitchen with snappy black-and-white tiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are four coal fireplaces, one with exceptional faux marble painting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first floor features a spiral stair, luscious paneling and hardwood doors, and walls that fascinate with skip-troweling texture.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll Just Love The Flow<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With 11 rooms in all, 3,848-feet of living space, and five bedrooms, there\u2019s a full bath on each of the three floors.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a step-down in the ell to the original servants\u2019 quarters.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a crime that there\u2019s no \u2018Zillow check\u2019 box for whether or not your property has an original, three-story carriage house with winding wooden stairs beckoning with fragrant woodwork. Check<\/em>. Actually there are four levels, as this garage has a basement. <\/span><\/p>\n

If foundations don\u2019t lie, at least part of the Spring House, erstwhile launching pad for the carrier pigeons, may have served as a privy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s a privilege to be in here, because it\u2019s been transformed into a dreamy office or painter\u2019s studio. Inside, a stencilled board bears the legend \u201cAlbion Leonard Chapman.\u201d Albion was Leonard Bond Chapman\u2019s son. Those who love to decode Portland may be saying, aha!<\/em> Nearby Albion Street, connecting Capisic Street and Brighton Avenue, was named for this boy. For generations, The Breakwater School was called Chapman School, dedicated in honor of this family and its dominions. In this provincial neck of the woods, the Chapmans were Forest City Medici. <\/span><\/p>\n

To track Chapman genealogy to Colonial times predating the Salem Witch Trials, visit http:\/\/www.chapmanfamilies.org\/genealogies\/edw617en.pdf.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taxes are $9,746.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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