SPRINGVALE — The dining table is ready, set with snowy white linen, striking flow blue china and gleaming glassware. In the living room, a table holds a child’s puzzle. Photographs line the walls, covered in Victorian era wallpaper – some of it reproduction and some original, and in surprisingly fine condition, given its years.

The woodwork in the Edmund E. Goodwin house is original, as are the floors. The Eastlake parlor furniture is original to the house and a sofa in the living room once graced the Goodall mansion and is upholstered in Sanford Mills plush. The kitchen sports a Princess Atlantic range, fitted to burn kerosene.

True to its word, the Sanford Springvale Historical Society – with the generosity of a lengthy list of donors – has seen to it that the circa 1899 Queen Anne style home has been brought back to life, and in record time.

The society acquired the property in June 2014. At the time, society president Harland Eastman called the home the finest, untouched example of late 19th century domestic architecture in the City of Sanford.

It had been lived in by members of the Goodwin family since it was built.

The floors have been refinished and polished, the woodwork washed and dusted – the original varnish remains – and curtains hang in the windows.

Now, the Sanford Springvale Historical Society will look at when to open the property for public view, said Eastman on a tour of the home earlier this week. Eastman said he’d like to have the property open for tours one day a week, facilitating the availability of folks to be on hand at the house. The matter is expected to be discussed at the October board of directors meeting.

Goodwin, who was born in 1852, began mercantile life at age 15 as a clerk in a tobacco store in Brooklyn, New York, and later was a clerk in a number of dry goods establishments. In 1877, he entered into business with his father in Springvale, where he later became senior partner of the firm of E.E. and J.W. Goodwin, general merchants and manufacturers of clothing. In 1893 he founded and was first president of Springvale Loan and Building Association; three three years later, with Louis B. Goodall and others, he shelped found the Sanford National Bank, according to Eastman.

Goodwin retired in 1898 at age 48. He was married three times, and widowed twice; his third wife survived him.

The house sits adjacent to the Sanford Springvale Historical Museum, which was briefly the Sanford Town Hall. The Sanford Historical Committee acquired the 1873 Town Hall property in 2005, restored the structure, and set about displaying artifacts acquired over the years. The artifacts are many, and the second floor of the Goodwin house will be used for storage.

The first floor is intended to show folks how people lived – in this case, a local, upper middle class family, at the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century.

When the purchase was announced in 2014, Mayor Tom Cote was among those on hand for the celebration. He said he was particularly excited about tours for schoolchildren on the ground floor of the property; hundreds of students already visit the adjacent museum each year.

“This will be a more hands-on experience,” said Cote at that earlier celebration.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.