A late-1700s cape
The Red House
A cape built in Maine in the late 1700s, saved from a fire department’s training burn, and raised again in 1998 on the site of Jeremiah Sanborn’s house. It was one of the first big projects of the farm’s restoration.
Late 1700s
Built as a cape on the Damariscotta River in Maine
1998
Raised on the site of Jeremiah Sanborn’s house
20,000 bricks
Saved from the Pittsfield cotton mill for its chimney
Stop R1
On the self-guided walking tour
In Maine
A house nearly lost
The Red House began as a cape built in the late 1700s on the Damariscotta River in Maine, unusually high-posted for a house of its time. In the Victorian era it was changed a great deal: the center chimney came out to make room for a central hall and stairs, and two smaller chimneys went in for stoves in the parlor walls.
Years later the house stood empty, and it was set to be burned in a fire department training exercise. A Maine antiques dealer bought it in time, took the frame apart, and kept it in storage until the farm brought it to Loudon in 1998.
In Loudon
Where Jeremiah Sanborn lived
The frame went up where Jeremiah Sanborn’s house had stood. That house was only 15 feet wide and 40 feet long, with 6-foot ceilings. Family stories say Jeremiah, who drove cattle, stood five feet tall, had eleven children, and was known as “40 foot Sanborn.” His barn across the road once held a clapboard mill.
Hand-hewn timbers and boards from an up-and-down saw were saved from the old house and used again in the new one. What was left of Jeremiah’s house lies under today’s driveway.
Jeremiah Sanborn’s house
Size
15 by 40 feet, with 6-foot ceilings
Saved from it
Hand-hewn timbers and up-and-down sawn boards
Across the road
His barn, which once held a clapboard mill
1998 to 2000
Built the old way
Steve Coombs came to the farm in 1998 to work on the restoration, and the first task was to give him, his wife, and their four children a place to live. He and Colin Cabot cleared the site, the foundation was poured that summer, and the house was raised and closed in before winter.
Through 1999 the paneling and wainscoting were cut with 18th-century hand planes. The new ell was framed in hemlock, and the mason, Bruce Yeaton, built a chimney in the colonial style from 20,000 bricks saved from the Pittsfield cotton mill. The Coombs family moved into the house in 2000.
The Red House
Built
Late 1700s, as a cape on the Damariscotta River in Maine
Raised here
1998
First lived in
2000
Chimney
20,000 bricks from the Pittsfield cotton mill
Today
Private rooms for workshop students
Saved from a training burn in Maine, the Red House stands where Jeremiah Sanborn’s house once stood.
Today
Who stays here
Over the years the Red House has been home to the farm’s restoration crew, staff, and interns. Today its three bedrooms are private rooms for workshop students when the Carriage House dorms are full, and the registrar assigns them.
Because students may be staying, the house is not open to visitors, but you can see it from the road and from the trail.
Walk out to it
The Red House Campus Link, a 940-foot path, joins the Grist Mill Trail Loop to the house.
Take the walking tour
The Red House is stop R1 on the self-guided tour, near the Grano Barn and the corn crib.