The Chadbourne House
South Berwick, Maine. Click here to enlarge.

The house of Judge Benjamin Chadbourne still stands today at the corner of Vine and Liberty Streets in South Berwick.

On June 12, 1770, the great-grandson of Humphrey Chadbourne built this house. Benjamin Chadbourne (1718-1799) had served in Sir William Pepperrell’s expedition against Louisburg in 1745, and later became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He represented the Berwicks in the Massachusetts Congress from 1756-1771, and was a member of the Governor’s Council.

The judge is said to have been a wealthy aristocratic type who loved to give lavish parties. In 1791 he gave ten acres of land and a sum of money to initiate the founding of Berwick Academy, today the oldest school in Maine, and served as its first president. He also sent some elms from his property to his friend, John Hancock, to plant on Boston Common.

The Chadbourne House, still occupied by descendants of the original Chadbournes, is considered to have been one of the best-built frame houses of its time. The cellar has a dirt floor and the foundation is made of stone. The cellar houses a huge chimney in its center and is enclosed with a brick archway. Each chimney interior measures 64 inches wide, large enough to serve five separate fireplaces providing ample heat throughout the house.

The main fireplace, largest in the house, is eight feet wide and contains a Dutch oven. Hot coals from the fireplace were placed into the Dutch oven daily for baking. The main house has eight rooms. The interior walls are solid plank. Many of the doors are double cross (“Christian”) doors. As well as beautiful paneling, every corner flaunts a six-inch by six-inch floor-to-ceiling molding. The main living room contains Indian shutters which slide in front of the windowpanes inside the windows. The main stairway curves upward with three landings and a hand carved banister. The second floor displays ornate ceiling moldings and wainscoting and some original wide pine floorboards.

The Chadbourne House remained within the family for 150 years after its construction, then was owned by Judge Benjamin Greene for a very short period of time. Next, Richard Davis and Abram Gilpatrick operated a tinsmith shop on the property. When the partnership ended, Gilpatrick moved an early ell from this house to the land next door where it is still standing. The well serves as a divider between the two properties. The Chadbourne House was subsequently owned by Davis’ daughter, Louise B. Davis, her niece, Florence Mary Smith Stevens, and Mrs. Stevens’ cousin, Freeman J. Smith, father of the present owner, Virginia Smith Alterio, who is a descendant of Patience Chadbourn, sister to Humphrey Chadbourne.

--- Marc and Virginia Smith Alterio

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