The Library offers guided tours of Margaret Chase
Smith's home, built in 1948, which illustrates elements of both the Post War Ranch and Cape style architecture.
Tours of her
home demonstrate an authentic experience of how Senator Smith
lived her life, the importance of "home" and her connection with her birthplace of Skowhegan, Maine. The house remains
in much the same condition as it was when she lived in it. Each room retains its original color scheme and floor plan and
contains Chase family heirlooms, furnishings, clothing, paintings, and other personal items she collected throughout her life.
The following is a history of Margaret Chase Smith's "Dream Home."
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| Senator Smith purchased property on Neil Hill in Skowhegan in 1946. The spot provided a panoramic view of the Kennebec River, the lifeblood of her hometown. Logs floated down the river were turned into pulp and paper, lumber, and a wide variety of wooden products. In addition, natural falls extended by two dams provided the power that drove local industry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Margaret Chase Smith had a new house built on Neil Hill during 1948 and 1949.
Described as her "dream home," it was Senator Smith's legal residence during
her many years in Washington and it is the home to which she retired in 1973
and in which she died in 1995.
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When the library addition was built onto the house in 1982, a sun room was created.
A glass roof and large picture window
made it a very bright, warm, and public space. It became one of Senator Smith's
favorite places. Consequently, many local
people still have fond memories of driving by and seeing her seated there.
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Sitting in her chair next to the front door, Senator Smith and her secretary,
Angela Stockwell, would attend to the day's business. Although the Senator
had retired from Congress, she continued to correspond extensively and entertain
many visitors.
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The importance of family to Margaret Chase Smith becomes readily apparent upon
entering the front hall of her home. Seven photographs displayed in the
first room of the house depict her mother and father, Carrie and George Chase.
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One of the pictures, which also appears in two other rooms, shows her
entire immediate family: her parents (George and Carrie),
two sisters (Laura and Evelyn), brother (Wilbur), their spouses, her
five nieces and nephews, and her pet dog (Minnix).
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The safe shows the influence of her maternal grandfather, John L. Murray.
Born Lambert Morin, he migrated from Quebec to find
work in Maine. He settled in Skowhegan, changed his name, and made a
successful life for himself. Young Margaret grew up in
Grandfather Murray's house on North Avenue in Skowhegan and he was the
person who loaned her $60 to go on a memorable
senior class trip to Washington, DC, in 1916.
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Nearly forty years later, Margaret Chase Smith had risen from shaking
the hand of President Woodrow Wilson in the White House to hosting President
Dwight Eisenhower at her house. In June of 1955, President Eisenhower visited
Skowhegan and spoke at the fair grounds.
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After his speech, President Eisenhower went to Senator Smith's Neil Hill
home for a steak and lobster dinner held on the grounds.
Feeding the 80 guests and 150 members of the press cost $820.
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Washington never slept here, but growing weary during the course of the day,
President Eisenhower retired for a nap in what has ever since been referred to
as the Eisenhower bedroom.
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Margaret Chase Smith sketched the design for her "dream home" on the back of an
envelope. Two of its distinctive features
were a large combination living and dining room and the extensive use of picture
windows. Maine architect Alonzo Harriman
prepared the formal plans for the house.
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From the dining room table, Senator Smith could look out the window into her hometown.
Next to the church steeple had once
stood the high school she had attended. Spanning the river were the
Margaret Chase Smith bridges. Her first job had been in a store in the
downtown business district. From this vantage point, she could almost
see all the way to her birthplace on North Avenue.
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The one room that has changed since Senator Smith moved in in 1949 is the kitchen.
Otherwise, the house remains in
much the same condition. For example, each room still retains its original color
scheme. This scene comes from a 1956
Ladies' Home Journal article, "Kitchen for a Lady Senator," which well
demonstrated the emphasis the media placed on
domesticity in covering a prominent female politician of the era.
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The state-of-the-art kitchen hailed by Ladies' Home Journal in 1956 was outdated
by the 1980s. The room was made more modern with the addition of a microwave oven and
the replacement of the dishwasher, refrigerator, linoleum, and countertop.
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Like the front hall, Senator Smith's bedroom pays tribute to her family. Several
family photographs form a cross above the writing desk and a portrait of her mother,
Carrie, is displayed over the bed. Margaret Chase Smith died in this room on May 29, 1995.
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The staff has left the house much as it was on the day Margaret Chase Smith passed away. Her
pocketbook is still next to her bed and in it is something the Senator always carried with her, a
copy of the Constitution. The first three words of the preamble, "we the people," sum up why she
believed service was such a vital virtue to foster in adults and instill in youths. |
Library & Museum Hours: | Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please call (207) 474-7133 for more information concerning resources available at the Margaret Chase Smith Library.
Copyright ©1999 Margaret Chase Smith Library. | |
