This blog entry was brought to you by John Scribner who assists buyers and sellers of distinctive homes in the Portland, Maine area.

At LandVest, we love the proud old houses that line the main streets of New England towns and villages. We are fortunate to represent some of the best of them, and one of the pleasures is learning the stories of the people who built them.

Summer Street in Kennebunk is one such main street, formalized as a National Register Historic District, and lined with Victorian mansions built as summer houses by successful citizens of the late nineteenth century. Holding her head proud among them is the grandly Italianate 1855 Joseph Titcomb House. She has all the finery of her era – a pedimented face to the street, quoins at each corner to give a sense of imposing mass, ornamental corbels supporting elaborately corniced eaves and elaborate millwork inside and out.

The Joseph Titcomb House on Summer Street in Kennebunk, Maine was built in 1855.

All this celebration was warranted by the success of her owner, who after graduation from Bowdoin College in 1843 made his mark in the booming industries of the time and the region: shipping, banking and insurance. Joseph Titcomb commissioned two of the largest ships built in the shipyard of Titcomb-Thompson, the aptly named “James Titcomb” at 491 tons, and the “Golden Eagle”, the largest ship ever built at the landing at 188 feet long. Joseph Titcomb’s legacy lives on today in the Ocean National Bank and Cole-Harrison Insurance, each of which he served as their first President.

The Joseph Titcomb House is set on 2.6± acres, and has been meticulously maintained. The six-bedroom main house offers over 6,600 square feet of living space. A three-story carriage house, a one-room playhouse or garden house, a reflecting pool and stunning landscape artistry across the property complete this exceptional offering.

This Italianate style home was designed by Gridley James Fox Bryant, a prominent Boston architect.

The beautifully landscaped yard is one of the many impressive features of this historic summer home.

Titcomb selected prominent architect Gridley James Fox Bryant to design and build the house based on Bryant’s reputation and body of work in the Boston area. Bryant got his start working for his father Gridley Bryant who was a railway entrepreneur. The younger Bryant worked in his father’s engineering firm and developed his understanding of architecture and design. Bryant’s first work was the Broadway Savings Bank in South Boston in 1830, and he went on to be a leading proponent of the “granite Style” in Boston. Some of his works include, Old City Hall, Boston City Hospital, Mercantile Wharf Building, the Quincy School and many private residences. Gridley J. F. Bryant was credited with the Gridiron Street pattern in Boston’s Back Bay.

This home, like it’s first owner, has been a center point of the Kennebunk community since since it was built. Most recently, it was recognized by The Week magazine as one of the finest properties in America for sale under $2,000,000.00 in 2010. It is conveniently located just a few miles away from the famous beaches and shops of Kennebunkport and 30 miles to Portland or 80 miles to Boston. The property offers easy access to the culture and transportation amenities of the larger cities of New England and the unique opportunities of one of Southern Maine’s most famous coastal summer communities.

For more information about the Joseph Titcomb House for sale. 

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