Saved by A Great White I N the see-saw sweep of recorded his- for the 1985 fall term, the first phase of Elephant tory, institutions of higher learning reconstruction, a shingled building con- have been saved by treaties, by sheer taining classrooms, a studio, and science whim of a conqueror or powerful protec- labs, has been finished and stands ready tor, and more recently by government for returning students. subsidies or wealthy alumni. On Mount There is a certain irony to the fact that Desert Island stands a college that was all during the school's two-year fight for saved by a rusticator's Bar Harbor castle. survival, the battle was waged from the At a little before 5 A.M. on Monday, stone turrets and ornate rooms of a Built as a Bar Harbor July 25, 1983, a lone fisherman on the former Bar Harbor summer mansion, Bar Harbor town pier spotted flames and symbol of the robber baron era that is summer "cottage" - a column of smoke shooting into the sky. anathema to the school's present faculty By the time firemen had responded to and students. Crammed into the former with thirty-five rooms his call, the inferno had totally engulfed white elephant, students and fund-rais- Kaelber Hall - campus center for Col- ers alike made do with rooms and and two-foot-thick lege of the Atlantic, a small, struggling facilities that served double and even liberal arts college specializing in en- triple functions, very nearly around the granite walls - vironmental studies. By afternoon all clock. That the college was able to sur- was gone: classrooms, faculty offices, vive, and even flourish, is a tribute to its the Turrets served ably dining facilities, the Thorndike Library. trustees, faculty, friends, and students. College records, faculty teaching mate- It is also a tribute to the sturdy old for- when tragedy struck rials, a book manuscript - all lay in tress that adapted SO effectively to uses ashes. But even as the ruin smoldered, for which it was never intended. the College of the the college's trustees met next door in College of the Atlantic, or COA, offers the school's other main building - a vast four years of liberal arts education with Atlantic in 1983. stone pile known as the Turrets - and a focus on human ecology. Founded in launched a rebuilding effort dubbed the 1972 with thirty students, it is still kept "Phoenix Fund" after the legendary bird deliberately tiny, with a student body of By Norah Deakin Davis that was consumed by fire and rose from less than two hundred, based on the its own ashes. Two years later, in time "small is beautiful" principle. In one 46 One hundred men labored two full years by the shore of Frenchman's Bay to erect financier John Josiah Emery's wedding gift to his bride. Nearly a hundred years later, the Turrets provides classroom and office space for the ecologically oriented school with a total student body of less than 200. higher education, schools continuing irony that the Emery the house to the bayside, where a mag- and students are labeled showplace today shelters classes in ecol- nificent ocean and mountain view is ob- " COA rates its own spe- ogy and low-key consumerism. And yet, tained." The hall, the article continues, of "micro-college." restoring the Turrets was beautifully has a ceiling paneled in Venetian carved is, Bar Harbor's school of consistent with COA's philosophy. Early black walnut and walls "finished in costly I studies inhabits one of in the college's history, the students and Delft work." architecturally significant faculty members decided in favor of a This architecturally dramatic house e Turrets was designed in campus of recycled seaside estates. took one hundred men two years to build. e Price at the behest of a Rather than tear up new ground, rather Apart from the elaborate woodwork, ancier. Price, a pivotal fig- than consume scarce resources by build- which was done in Boston, the work was heteenth-century architec- ing from scratch, the college would pre- carried out locally. The granite, 1,700 I for a number of elegant serve historical links with the past. "To perch of stone (about 42,500 cubic feet), luding the Chateau Fron- raze the Turrets," all agreed, "would be was quarried on Mount Desert Island, ec City. tragic." near Eagle Lake. The walls on the first endmark in Bar Harbor was floor are two feet thick. by financier John Josiah wedding gift for his bride. THE Bar Harbor Record of 1895 ran a The plumbing, advanced for its day, series of articles on the newly con- featured a thousand-gallon tank lined th was second-generation. structed residence, "one of the finest," with copper and located in the attic. The Cincinnati soap and candle the paper claimed, "in New England." tank provided gravity pressure to sup- , had founded the family The early journalist toured the four-story plement the town water, so that the he son improved it through house, giving us a look with turn-of-the- Emery faucets flowed with satisfyingly tments in railroads and real century eyes: modern authority. In fact, everything on relocated to New York "Entrance to this elegant summer was up-to-date. Electric wiring was in- tion's financial center, and palace is through a massive porte- stalled during construction: the Record began eyeing Bar Harbor's cochere, within the doors of which stands reported "brass armored conduits of the ummer life. He decided to an elephant of Pyrrhian marble, which latest manufacture." At night, the news- e local newspaper of the day for nearly three centuries [stood] at the paper marveled, the Turrets "shines one of the resort's "largest front of the palace of a king at Agra, in from the harbor like an oriental palace." ensive summer residences." India. All this is as nothing when compared 1 cate black walnut balustrade, Emery selected the firm of David P. Page of The Frank Lloyd Wright Boston, whose artistry was also the choice of Cornelius Vanderbilt and Pier- pont Morgan. The Page firm did all the Connection Turrets cabinetwork, including, in the hall, massive fluted columns and cross- "B RUCE Price was important it, on the other hand, as representative beams of carved walnut inlaid with white as the connecting link be- of a rebellion against period styles. boxwood. The library was finished in tween Henry H. Richardson, the lead- But, Carpenter maintains, the build- mahogany, the dining room wainscoted ing American architect of the ing exhibits ample grounds for believ- in oak, the music room and reception nineteenth century, and Frank Lloyd ing that Price was picking up where room paneled in cherry. The building's Wright, the most important of the Richardson left off, that he too was a total cost? A then-monumental $100,000. twentieth." This is the assessment of pioneer in the evolution of an indige- Upstairs on the second floor are the COA's resident expert in art and ar- nous modern American style. bedrooms, now used as classrooms and chitectural history, Joanne Car- In fact it was one of Price's creations faculty offices. Originally there were six, penter. In her course on modern ar- that Wright turned to for inspiration all but one with fireplaces, plus four chitecture, she finds the Turrets an in designing his first major building. baths, some of which are now tiny offices. instructive and handy example. The Turrets in particular contains The third floor contained another six In part, Price merely reflected his hints of the open floor plan that be- bedchambers, plus a sewing room and a day, an era when Americans de- came so characteristic of Wright's billiard room. The latter, with a wall of pended on Europe for their culture. bold style. Large doors open up the glass opening to the hall, served as a "Every serious architect," says Car- walls, making the spaces free-flowing, schoolroom when the Emery children penter, "would go to France for a breaking down the Victorian box-like were young. The governess ruled firmly year, notebook in hand, and roam up separation of rooms and reflecting the even in summer. and down the Loire Valley, copying informality for which Bar Harbor was the French chateaus." But the late noted. The wealthy who came to Mount O NE who can picture the home as it nineteenth century was a transitional Desert Island were looking for a dif- once was is William Parr, fortyish period. According to Carpenter, "On ferent kind of summer life from those and a butler for one of COA's trustees. the one hand was our sycophantic im- who went to Newport. Bar Harbor's Some fifteen years ago Parr made a study itation of European period styles re- summer people were ready to exper- of the Turrets. He searched out old re- sulting from our sense of cultural in- iment. "Open plans involve a change cords and interviewed three former serv- feriority. On the other was Richard- in how people interact," says Car- ants. Suzy Stevens, maid, is dead now, son's assertion of the natural." penter. "Open plans are like taking as is John Riddell, caretaker. But John's The Turrets is a paradigm of the off your corset." wife Margaret, parlormaid, is still alive two strains in American architecture. Yet even while Bar Harborites were and recalls that the Emery family kept Superficially it looks like a perfect experimenting with new living styles, nine servants after World War II. Suzy example of a period imitation: out- they were still concerned with impres- Stevens had told Parr thirty, but that side, a romantic Renaissance chateau sing. Emery, true to type, imported was before the war. The staff in the old and, on the inside, a mélange of other two authentic Romanesque columns days was SO big that the family added an period styles. "Going from room to to support the roof of the chateau's extra story to the servants' wing over room," says Carpenter, "is like going veranda. He furnished the rooms with the stable. Presumably when the stable from century to century." The Great Italian antiques and expensive bric-a- burned in the great Bar Harbor fire of Hall is classical Renaissance, the din- brac picked up on his European 1947, a decision was made to reduce the ing room is Tudor or Jacobean, the travels. "The wealthy," Carpenter de- staff rather than rebuild. music room is Greek Revival. Modeled clares, "were so afraid they had no On a tour of the grounds, Parr specu- after the Chateau de Blois, the Tur- culture, they did it with a vengeance." lates as to how responsibilities might rets is so formal it is hard to conceive -N.D.D. have been divided. "I heard no mention of a butler, so probably there was a housekeeper instead," says Parr in care- fully modulated tones. "Then there would have been a cook, possibly two kitchen maids, eight parlormaids who also waited table." What function could so many have possibly served? "They polished the polish," Parr replies. Going inside, he continues, "Of course there was a lady's maid, a private secretary, a governess, a chauffeur, a laundress and laundry maid, a cook and helper to feed the staff, a caretaker, a gardener, and finally the grounds crew." In the butler's pantry, now used as the college's kitchen, floor-to-ceiling cabinets fronted with glass are still intact, and the room obviously interests Parr profes- sionally. "This house is very well laid out," he says, peering out a window. "For instance, the butler -or house- keeper - could see the driveway and High Renaissance in style, the Great Hall in 1895 was also surprisingly modern. entrance from here. That way, you know (Continued on page 58) 48 THE TURRETS (Continued from page 48) when someone is arriving, and you can meet them at the door. That's considered good form: to reach the door before they do." In his studies Parr has learned some- poly-cotton thing of the family's history. Emery's full-cut, bride, the former Lela Alexander, was A eighteen on her wedding day, her hus- band thirty years her senior. The couple In white, lt. blue, navy or red with a black honeymooned in Europe for two years lighthouse print or a 2-color blue Maine print. while the lavish wedding gift was under Sorry, children's sizes not available in white. construction. Over the next decade, Youth: S (6-8), M (10-12), L (14-16). Adult: S In 1939, (34-36), M (38-40), L (42-44), XL (48). Price Emery and his bride conceived five chil- Gandhi told Adelaide postpaid - Lighthouse - Youth $6, Adult dren. The family summered together at $6.50. 2-color Maine Youth $7.50, Adult $8. the Turrets each year until Emery died that pottery Please send T-shirts in 1908. must be taken seriously Lighthouse Size Color 2-color Maine Size Color The widow and her children continued Adelaide Pearson returned to Maine to in- Maine residents add 5% sales tax. to occupy the estate during the summers still a new dignity in the pottery she established Canadian residents add 50c per shirt. that followed. Eventually Lela remar- in Blue Hill. Name ried, becoming Mrs. Alfred Anson. Cap- Today, complete settings of tableware and accessories stand for the well-known tradition Address tain Anson was the seventh son of the of Rowantrees Pottery. Each piece is indivi- City State Zip Earl of Litchfield and first cousin of King dually crafted and glazed, then fired to a kiln George. He too died, in 1944. Mrs. Anson temperature of 1900 degrees. The clay itself and Check Enclosed American Express survived him by nine years, and became, the materials that form Rowantrees' vivid glaze Visa MasterCard Exp. date in Parr's words, "a noted personage in colors come from this same locality. Just come up the garden path and visit the Card. No. Bar Harbor." Though she seldom enter- pottery, or send $1.00 for a color catalogue Signature tained in the evening, tea was served for today. guests at 4:30 prompt. A frequent visitor Goldsmith's Sporting Goods was Sumner Welles, assistant secretary rowantrees & Clothes Shop of state under Franklin Delano Roosevelt pottery 464 Main St., Rockland, Me. 04841 and summer resident of nearby Hulls Box C-D, Blue Hill, Maine 04614 Cove. Music was Mrs. Anson's great love, and other noteworthy guests in- Armchair Voyage Classic cluded Fritz Kreisler, Austrian violinist, HOME VIDEO and Ignacy Paderewski, famous Polish pianist, composer, and statesman. MID-COAST MAINE'S "Now when Mrs. Anson was there," QUALITY FAMILY says Parr, relating what he was told by FOOTWEAR STORE Suzy Stevens, "everything was perfect." FEATURING: Fresh bouquets of flowers were placed out each and every morning. The drive- ROCSPORTS, DRESSPORTS way of pea gravel was raked daily, a AND DANCESPORTS COASTER common practice at summer cottages The Adventure of The John F. Leavitt even today. By our standards, every- thing was also formal. One summer Mrs. Winner BEST ADVENTURE FEATURE American Film Festival Anson's grown daughter, the Duchess de Talleyrand, rowed up to the private dock "COASTER resembles a poem-of the sea, of the shipwright's craft, of the romance of traditional New with a party of friends. The young people England, and, primarily, of the power of the human had been on an outing to Duck Harbor. SEBAGO DOCKSIDES spirit-a poem of striking beauty and precision." -R. McKibben, Maine Times Mrs. Anson stopped them at the door, PAPPAGALLO since after all they were not "dressed." "The photography is excellent. The filmmaker has BANDOLINO captured the beauty and fury of the sea." Boat clothes are not suitable for a house ZODIAC -Linda Gross, Los Angeles Times where everything is perfect. NATURALIZER VIDEO CASSETTE-91 minutes, full color. When not in Europe with her daugh- HUSH PUPPIES Specify VHS or Beta-$79.95 ter, the duchess, Mrs. Anson traveled Original Sound Track album or cassette, around the country by private railroad WOLVERINE BOOTS car. She owned a house in New York NIKE ATHLETIC FOOTWEAR original music and sounds of the life of a ship and the sea-$9.95 City and one in Florida, but every sum- BIRKENSTOCK SANDALS Add $3.00 shipping & handling each item. mer, from the end of June to the end of and much more Maine residents add sales tax. October, she would return to the Tur- As always, quality and satisfaction Call Toll Free 1-800-262-7734, op.Q rets. With such a lengthy season, she are unquestionably guaranteed. VISA and MC orders send card # and expiration must have had the fireplaces lit fre- Open 7 days a week date, or send check or MO.O. to: quently - not to mention firing up the Atlantic Film, Dept Q 105 central heating system. Even though the 102 Harbor Rd. Kittery Point, ME 03905 Turrets was to be used only in summer, Hodgman's Footwear 207-439-3739 Emery had had two furnaces installed. 21 Main Street, Camden, Maine 04843 The stone chateau's thermal mass is so A must to own or the perfect gift! Tel. 207-236-2092 massive that the house is slow to respond 58 to temperature changes, remaining cool Handcrafted by even on hot days. Country Artisans A Rugged Exterior #402-702:01 #401P-697:2 Mallard Decoy Decor Planter R ESTORING an antiquated heating but a Softy system was only one of many chal- Inside lenges facing College of the Atlantic. Size: 13 1/2" x 6 1/2" Our 100% cotton jackets are lined with chamois cloth for fall. Subsequent to Mrs. Anson's death in COUNTRY CERAMICS presents The Latchfront Jacket 1953, the great stone house fell into dis- "A WATERFOWL COLLECTION" Women's S*M*L*. Khaki Natural use. By the time the college acquired the Exquisite Planters & Décor Pieces Each Similar But Different Bottle green. All lined Décor Duck Soft Creamy Egg Nog sprinkled lightly with chocolate with navy. property, one wall was crumbling, and specks. Head detailed. Flowers of mixed colors to match any decor large sections of flooring had rotted from and brighten any room. $72.50 Mallard Green head with white neck ring, yellow bill and walnut water damage. Windows were broken, tone body. Perfect for den or family room. Add $2.50 401P-697:02 DECOR DUCK. W/planter pocket (shown). lath was showing where chunks of plaster shipping. Maine 401-697:02 DECOR DUCK. No planter pocket (not shown). residents add 5% had fallen, leaded glass doors and elabo- 402-702:01 MALLARD DECOY. No planter pocket (shown). sales tax. Master- 402P-702:01 MALLARD DECOY. W/planter pocket (not shown) rate light sconces were gone. The Emery Card, Visa, COUNTRY CERAMICS, Dept. DE 1085. Box 840, Mahwah, NJ 07430 American Express. showplace was a wreck, the victim of Check or money order. Décor Ducks $19. 50 ea Mallards $29 50 ea. Shipping & handling $4 50 each piece NJ residents add 6% sales tax Shipped UPS. Allow weather and vandals. 4-6 weeks for delivery due to custom craft processing Send for free brochure Faculty member William Carpenter, English professor and poet, recalls the gloomy, cavernous interior, and the ex- terior, its empty windows and dark pin- Simplicity Wreath nacles silhouetted, perhaps, against moonlight: "Back then, we used the Tur- Each year, as a family endeavor, we "gather rets just for Halloween parties. We the greens" of beautifully fragrant balsam fir from our played up the Charles Addams aspect." wooded acres in Maine and create the SIMPLICITY WREATH to bring pleasure to you and perhaps to When the college had first purchased others as a gift during the holiday season. Our 22" the property that would become its cam- wreath is decorated with a red velvet bow, pine cones pus, the Turrets had been thrown in as and berries. We also make CHRISTMAS GARLAND featuring a large weatherproof velveteen bow. UPS part of the package. The first challenge shipping and gift cards included. Please add $1.50 each was to find dollars for the restoration. In item west of the Mississippi. VISA/MC accepted. 1974 COA succeeded in having the SIMPLICITY WREATH $18 chateau placed on The National Register CHRISTMAS GARLAND (15 ft.) $18 of Historic Places. Before long, work SIMPLICITY WREATH Please print addresses and gift card instructions clearly. began on stabilizing the deteriorating Ocean Spray Cottages, Dept. DE, Harrington, Maine 04643 207-483-2780 north wall, which was bulging out in places by as much as six inches. Workers shored up the wall, pulled out stones, and cemented them back with epoxy mor- tar. The rest of the building's stonework WHY DID THIS PAINTING had to be completely re-pointed, work that continued until 1977. Fortunately, SET A NEW RECORD PRICE the slate roof, forty feet up, was in fairly good condition. AT AUCTION IN 1985? Phase II, which began in 1978, con- sisted of transforming the servants' wing into a dormitory to house eight students. By 1980 students were living in the new dormitory. Among the first was Joy "C. Drew Knowlton, today an alumna who remem- 1879 Ocean Race" bers the Turrets fondly: "In spring we would sit out on the back steps and have breakfast, looking out over the herb gar- Multiple Choice den and the ocean. I had transferred 1. Because the Pre-Auction research conducted by our specialist in from the University of Massachusetts, the field of 19th century Art revealed it was amongst Clement where the dorm I lived in had nine floors Drew's best work. and held eight hundred people." 2. Because the painting was advertised throughout the Northeast, During Phase III, the second and third illustrated and catalogued with full details of the Artist and his works. floors of the main building were rehabili- 3. Because the painting was sold at Auction in N. H. where there is tated as offices and classrooms. To pre- No Sales Tax, No State Income Tax and Auctioneers J. C. Devine, serve the interior finishes, the main Inc. charges No Buyers Premium. building, unlike the wing, was not gut- ted. Instead, architect Roc Caivano and 4. All of the above. structural engineer Harris Hyman - For "no obligation" consultation on your paintings and two COA instructors in alternative de- antiques, Call the modern up-to-date Auction Company with sign who were directing the renovation - elected to punch holes and insert styrofoam insulation. Because stone Old J.C. DEVINE INC. walls sweat, ordinary foam would cause Fashion moisture buildup, so Caivano and Hyman Traditional came up with a creative solution: they Standards. AUCTIONEERS & APPRAISERS P.O. BOX 413, SAVAGE ROAD, MILFORD, NH 03055 poured in the styrofoam peanuts that are (603) 673-4967 used as packing material. The irregular 59 shape allows air flow to continue, permit- ting ventilation through the original Efficiency Economy Comfort Fast, Easy Installation "weep holes." The true challenge, however, came in LINCOLN ELECTRIC Phase IV, when restoration of the mag- RADIANT HEATING UNITS nificent first floor began, underwritten by a gift from the Emery family. These rooms would serve as classrooms, as a HEAT LIKE THE SUN college dining room, and as a public art Tempered glass panels maintain desired temperatures with- U.L LISTED gallery. Although elsewhere some con- out wasted energy and individual room controls and minimal maintenance add further economy. Heaters provide uniform cessions had been made to meet safety Lincoln floor-to-ceiling temperatures varying less than 3°. No cold regulations and adapt the building to spots, no blasts of hot air. Normal humidity is maintained Electrical educational uses, on this floor changes without a humidifier. The completely self-contained units are easy to install and require no costly plumbing or duct work. Heater Corp. were kept to a minimum. In fact, to re- Ideal primary and supplemental heat. Distributed by: create the original atmosphere and decor, even some of Mrs. Anson's renova- ENDURO P.O. Box 71, Bar Harbor, Me. 04609. 207-288-4082 tions were removed. For example, she had covered the elegantly carved oak in the dining room with layers of white paint. Stripping that one room to bare wood took a team of workers nearly three weeks. The Down MAINE CALENDAR Total price tag for the Turrets restora- 1986 tion? $400,000. With 22,500 square feet, the Emery showplace turned out to be a 1986 bargain for COA. F ACULTY members began moving DownEast in their books long before the work was finished. Even today, the restoration is still incomplete, especially the base- Calendars ment, which remains essentially un- touched. Too bad, because in some ways it is the most interesting part of the are in! ENGAGEMENT CALENDAR 58 exceptional pictures, 16 in color. $7.95 ppd. building. Stone passageways with low archways lead like a Roman catacombs For 23 years, the best from Coastal and Inland Maine. to chambers that once housed a laundry, the furnaces, storage spaces, and a wine closet. Here the Charles Addams look Down East remembered by Bill Carpenter still pre- vails. Rows of stalactites, some as long as six inches, have calcified along the ceiling beams from decades of dripping condensation. The shattering loss sustained on that July day in 1983, a loss that Dr. Louis Rabineau, president of the college, says 1986 CALENDAR OF MAINE will take more than two million dollars MAINESCAPES 1986CALENDAROE MAINE PUBLISHING EASTERN ILLUSTRATING to fully replace, halted all further renova- tion of the Turrets in favor of Phase I of WALL CALENDAR "MAINESCAPES" the rebuilding, completed this fall. The 12 outstanding color photographs. $6.95 1986 CALENDAR OF MAINE ppd. Published by Eastern Illustrating next phase, scheduled to begin in spring Some of the best color photographs to ap- 1986, will consist of a new library; the pear in DOWN EAST are reproduced in this final phase will be a new auditorium. All scenic Maine calendar. $7.50 ppd. Calendars make superb gifts. Let your family and friends are planned to integrate architecturally remember Maine throughout 1986. with the Turrets, which will then become the central administrative building and Please send me public showplace. (The Emery mansion Wall Calendars @ $6.95 ppd. comes full circle.) Engagement Calendars @ $7.95 ppd. To COA trustee Donald Straus, the "Mainescapes" Calendars @ $7.50 ppd. re-emergence of the chateau's former beauty mirrors the promise of the future (Maine addresses please add 5% sales tax to your order.) Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. for College of the Atlantic. To this op- Make checks payable to Down East Books. timistic thought Richard Borden, faculty I enclose member, adds a soupcon of COA philosophy: "Sustaining the liveability Name Check here of this earth is what we hope to pass on Address for your to future generations. We hope they can Free Down East look back at us and know that we cared." City State Zip Book Catalog In light of the school's rescue of the Tur- rets, the theory has already been put into DOWN EAST BOOKS, BOX 679, CAMDEN, MAINE 04843 practice. 61