LB2007.1.107553a

LB2007.1.107553a

Shade of The Elm Inn Image of a three-story house with a hip roof and large chimneys, housing the "Limerick Hotel", as identified by a sign hanging from a tree on the roadside. The Federal style building is said to have been built in 1805 by General John McDonald as his residence. In 2013 the restored house at 43 Main Street was the home of the Customs House Antiques Gallery. According to the website of the Maine Antiques Dealers Association, the building retains much of its original interior fabric, including murals depicting the local and regional landscape painted in the 1830s. Also remaining are ten fireplaces, the large original cooking hearth, original floors, decorative woodwork and stenciling. The website describes "Major General John McDonald (1774-1826)...as a friend of Gen. George Washington and a member of the Maine State Senate for five terms until his death at the age of 52. He was nominated Governor (sic.) during that year and was Judge of the Court Sessions, Justice of the Peace and Major General of the Maine and Massachusetts Militia during the War of 1812. He used his mansion's third floor grand ballroom for Militia practice during (that) War...The home stayed in his family for almost a century... until it was sold in the year 1900 to Steven A. Grant of the Crawford House in Boston. He turned it into a lucrative inn called Shade of the Elm Inn." The website also points to the house's history as a tavern or inn following McDonald's death. The location of this sizable structure on Main Street would have lent itself well for accomodating overnight travelers passing through the area. "During the 1830s and onward, many coach coach travelers visited the Inn and one in particular stands out. Hiis name was Payne, an avid follower of the famed artist Rufus Porter. He (Payne) painted murals in the likeness of his mentor on the front foyer walls and staircase along with several second floor rooms instead of paying for his stay. This was a common New England practice during the early 1800s." During the 1920s, according to the same source, wallpaper which had been applied over the paintings was removed, exposing the murals. Research indicates the scenes are indeed by a follower of Rufus Porter and depict the mouth of the Saco River, and Casco Bay with clipper ships. Another section "portrays the early Shaker settlement near Poland Springs." The front porch was probably added in the latter half of the 19th century. In the 1920s a single-story building was constructed beside it and used as the Post Office. According to Thomas LePage, the structure was moved to a site near Sokokis Lake when State Route 11 was widened.