The Wedding Cake House will host an event next month. (Courtesy of the Hunt family)

The iconic Wedding Cake House on Summer Street in Kennebunk will open to the public next month and interest in the rare event was ardent.

A couple weeks ago, the Brick Store Museum invited the public to a opportunity to experience flavors, music, and history inside the famed home; and it did not take long for the Sept. 21 event to sell out. The festivities will feature live piano music from local musician Kris Rodgers, hors d’oeuvres from For Love of Food and Drink, and a rare tour of the iconic home’s first level.

Mary Delehanty, the Brick Store Museum’s public engagement manager, said the event will serve as a fundraiser for the museum.

“The owners of the house reached out to us and offered their house for us to use as a fundraiser,” Delehanty said. “We’re very thankful for that.”

According to the home’s website, the Wedding Cake House, located in an area of Kennebunk known as “Kennebunk Landing,” was built by fourth generation shipbuilder George Washington Bourne as a present to his new wife Jane in 1825.

The white lacy details adorning the home, known as the “icing,” were added in 1852 after a fire destroyed the barn.

Like many historic homes in the area, the Wedding Cake House comes with over 100 years of stories, inspiring one romantic tale in which a young bride and groom are separated on their wedding night as the groom boards a ship.

George Bourne, a Kennebunk shipbuilder, built the Wedding Cake House in the 1800s. (Courtesy of the Hunt family)

As the tale goes, the bride and groom were unable to have their wedding cake and ceremony, and the groom spent his long days at sea carving “icing” details for their home.

“There are different stories about why it’s called the Wedding Cake House,” Delehanty said.

One widely believed story is that it got its name from a local business man who called it “the Wedding Cake House” for a series of postcards depicting the grand homes along Summer Street.

Over the years, the house was passed down through the Bourne family, and was later purchased by James Hunt Barker in 1998. The home is still maintained by the Hunt family, who redid the home a few years ago after it fell into disrepair.

The Wedding Cake House is widely reported to be one of the most photographed buildings in Maine. (Courtesy of the Hunt family)

The opportunity to visit and tour the home is special, Delehanty said.

“Everyone in town was really excited about it,” she said. “It’s been there forever … it’s a house you can never get into.”

Although the Brick Store Museum event is sold out, the Wedding Cake House is available for rent through KPort Concierge.