Located on Wiscasset's Main Street, Nickels-Sortwell House is one of the region's finest examples of high Federal-style architecture. Built by successful ship owner Captain William Nickels, the house epitomizes the brief period when shipbuilding and the maritime trade brought wealth and sophisticated tastes to this coastal Maine village.

Jefferson's Embargo of 1807 devastated the town of Wiscasset, sending it into an economic decline that would last for years. The Nickels family was forced to sell the mansion in 1814, and for much of the nineteenth century it served as a hotel, catering to the growing number of summer visitors to Maine's coast.

In 1899, the house was purchased by industrialist and banker Alvin Sortwell, the former mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Sortwell family had Wiscasset roots reaching back to the early eighteenth century. They lovingly restored the house over a period of years and decorated it in the Colonial Revival style with fine antique furnishings.

Please visit nearby Castle Tucker.

Visit Nickels-Sortwell House

Open
Friday – Sunday, June 1 – October 15
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tours every half hour. Last tour at 4:00 p.m.

Admission
$8 adults
$7 seniors
$4 students
Free for Historic New England members and Wiscasset residents. Become a member.

Location
121 Main Street (Route 1)
Wiscasset, Maine 04578

Nickels-Sortwell House on Google Maps

Directions: Take I-295 to Exit 28, Route 1, Brunswick. Follow Route 1 to Wiscasset. Follow Route 1 to the junction with Route 218 at Wiscasset. The Nickels-Sortwell House is on the corner.

Parking: Public parking is available on Main Street. There is also a public lot behind the shops on Main Street.

Historic New England is a museum of cultural history that collects and preserves buildings, landscapes, and objects dating from the seventeenth century to the present and uses them to keep history alive and to help people develop a deeper understanding and enjoyment of New England life and appreciation for its preservation. For more information, please visit historicnewengland.org.