Two hundred people attended an annual summer lawn party July 18 co-hosted by Allagash Brewing Co. and Victoria Mansion as a fundraiser for the 19th-century home-turned-museum on Danforth Street in Portland.  

“Every penny raised through this event goes right into our mission,” said Victoria Mansion Executive Director Tim Brosnihan. “And we have some major work going on, including a restoration of our front bay, which is a brownstone structure. Even just a day ago, there was brownstone strewn all over this lawn waiting to go on the bay, with a 200-foot-tall crane parked over on Park Street.”

All that brownstone was indeed cleared away in time for Brews & Bites, the museum’s social event of the summer. The Dapper Gents played folk-rock tunes on the back piazza while Cheese Louise served hot sandwiches and guests filled their complementary Allagash chalices with Cellardoor wines, Green Bee sodas and, of course, Allagash brews.

Allagash founder Rob Tod said, “Our philanthropy program started right here [in 2006] with Victoria Mansion with a cork-topped brew called Victoria Ale. We donated a dollar a bottle for every bottle sold. Since then we have been able to contribute $175,000 to Victoria Mansion.”

Guests were drawn to Brownstone Brews & Bites for all sorts of reasons. James Sulpizio, an intern at the Granite Museum in Barre, Vermont, happened to be in the area and was interested in the mansion’s building materials. Misty Coolidge, wearing her Mrs. New England Galaxy pageant sash, reminisced about her wedding on the lawn in 2013. And Park Street neighbors Richard and Karin Anderson — and their cat Lilly, who is regular visitor on the museum property — just strolled across the yard. 

“We have a wonderful view of the back side of Victoria Mansion,” Karin Anderson said. “It looks like an old villa in Florence.”

Ruggles Morse, a native Mainer who spent much of the year in New Orleans making a fortune as a proprietor of luxury hotels (and, we know now, a buyer and seller of Black and mixed-race people), had the ostentatious “summer home” built in the years leading up to the Civil War. Morse employed three stars of that architectural era: New England architect Henry Austin known for his Victorian style, German-born cabinetmaker Gustave Herter for the interiors, and Italian-born Guiseppe Guidicini for fresco-style wall decor.

The Morse family and later the Libby family lived in luxury here until the 1930s. The house was ultimately abandoned after the 1938 flood. A few years later, an oil company coveted the corner lot for an urban gas station. But historic preservationists bought the property first, named it in honor of Britain’s Queen Victoria and opened it as a museum in 1941. Thanks to the generosity of the Morse and Libby descendants, 90 percent of the original furnishings have been returned to the house.  

“It’s the community that saved this house, and it’s the community that has preserved and supported it throughout the past 84 years,” Brosnihan said, adding that fundraising is more important than ever. “With federal funding so uncertain, private foundations and individual contributions will have to carry the day.”

In May, Victoria Mansion launched a five-year $8 million capital campaign to continue caring for the historic landmark and expanding educational initiatives. About $5 million in commitments have been made. 

Tours are available daily until Oct. 31. For more information: victoriamansion.org.

Amy Paradysz is a freelance writer and photographer based in Scarborough. She can be reached at amyparadysz@gmail.com.