Bar Harbor Record
November 16, 1898
Colonel Morrell's Beautiful Summer Home On Malden Hill
There are now in Bar Harbor nearly three hundred handsome residents built by rich and prominent people from almost every part of the union, who were attracted to the island by the marvelous beauties with which nature with a lavish hand, has endowed it.
The beautiful and costly mansions, styled in the humble vernacular "cottages," are scattered over the narrow plateau or perched amid the foliage on the foothills which lie between the mountains and the bay.
When first the glowing canvas of wandering artists heralded abroad the beautiful scenery of the romantic island and attracted the earlier summer visitors to the shores of Frenchman's Bay, land was cheap and good building sites were numerous. Hence the first arrivals had a wide domain from which to select, and naturally chose the most picturesque and commanding situations for their summer homes.
The first tracts of land sold to non-residents were those along the storefront facing the bay and the distant ocean. The restless moods of the ever-changing sea seemed to attract the earlier settlers, and they built their homes within hearing of its murmuring waves. Then, when the more desirable of these sites were occupied, the next arrivals lifted their gaze toward the hills over looking the village and found there charming and picturesque spots where the eye might range over a grand panorama of bay and ocean, mountains and forests.
One of the earliest and most beautiful situated of these mountain eyries, the Thirlstane, built on Malden Hill over-looking Kebo Street by Mrs. Rebecca B. Scott of Washington D.C.. For years the house was occupied by that lady and her son, Mr. Owen Scott. In the fall of 1897, after the death of Mrs. Scott, the estate was purchased by Col. Edward Morrell of Philadelphia; and since last spring a crew of carpenters under the charge of A.E. Lawrence, contractor, has been busy making improvements and additions to the old house.
Today, Thirlstane is practically a new house. A long, two story addition has been built to the kitchen wing. the entrance hall and dinning room have been greatly enlarged and entirely remodeled; and a wing forty feet in length has been built on the south end and finished for a study and library. the piazza on the east front has been rebuilt and lengthened to cover the additions on each wing. At the southwest corner a very handsome flight of granite steps connects this piazza with the garden in front of the house; and a stone terrace with tiled floor has been built out over the brow of the hill on the northeast corner.
It is in the decoration and finish of the public rooms at Thirlstane, however, that the most wonderful transformation has been wrought. All that art could desire and skill effect has been employed to render these apartments pleasing to the eye and convenient for the purposes for which they will be used.
The main hall extends across the entire width of the house, with windows on the east side overlooking the village and the bay, and a door opening on the piazza. The original length of the hall has been much increased on the northern end and the apartment has now the dimensions of an old baronial hall.
The hall is entered from the west by double doors, with panels of leaded glass in beautiful floral designs of a golden amber tint. On either side the doors are windows of the same design. The wainscoting is of panel work; and the walls and ceilings are plastered and tinted a rich warm green. A large open fireplace surrounded by a handsome mantel make the dining room as it should be, the brightest room in the house. A wide door, with plate glass panels gives access to the porch on the eastern side. The floor, like that of the hall, is of quartered oak.
But the masterpiece of workmanship and art at Thirlatane, is the study, which formsm the new southern wing of the house. Entering it, the visitor seems to leave this place and century, and find himself in some old english manor house of the Elizabethan period.
Every bit of woodwork in the room is oak. The floor is of the most beautifully figured quartered oak; the beams and rafters in the roof are of oak; and the window seats, the book cases, and the settle by the fireplace all are oak.
A flight of three steps under a wide archway lead down from the parlor to this room which has a length of nearly forty feet and a width of twenty feet. The oak panelled are eight and a half feet in heigth and are intersected by double casement windows of leaded glass, the architraves between them beautifully decoratecd with carved work.
The oak beams and rafters in the roof form panels which are filled in with plaster work. The walls are surmounted by a carved frieze in sections four feet in length between the ends of the rafters. three grinning faces, hideous dwarfs, and creatures of bygone ages, look down on the visitor from every corner; and add to the antiquated style of the room.
In the eastern wall is an immerse fireplace, 4 x 6 feet in the open. The face is built of Indiana limestone and the hearth is a single flagstone. Stone corbels grin on either corner. The heavy mantel twelve feet in length, is beautifully carved from one solid piece of oak.
All the fine carvings in this room were done by the boys of industrial school, Philadelphia. The handsome oak paneling was also made in that city. The work of building this wing, however, and fitting and putting the material together was all done under the superintenence of the contractor, Mr. A.E. Lawrence; and this as well as the work in all other parts of the house, speaks well of his skill and good judgement. The architects were Messrs Cope & Stewardson of Philadelphia, and Messrs Savage & Straton supervised the work as their local agents.
Modern plumbing of the latest mode and design has been introduced through out the house, Messrs Leighton Davenport & Co. doing the work. The plumbing in the Butlers pantry is as fine a job of work as was ever done in town. The double sink and long drain board and back, of fine German silver, is a beautiful and costly piece of workmanship. The painting through out the house has been done by Graham & Tabbutt and shows both taste and skill. The handsome stonework was built by George L. Wescott.
With its alterations and improvements Thirlstane is now one of the handsomest residences in Bar Harbor; while its commanding situation gives its owners as fine a view as this beautiful region affords.
