Winterguide 2019 | view this story as a .pdf

A comfortable dwelling with a storied past opens a door to the future.

By Colin W. Sargent

One hundred years ago, novelist Booth Tarkington won the Pulitzer Prize for The Magnificent Ambersons. In 1922, he won again, for Alice Adams. At the peak of his fame, Tarkington bought “Seawood” in Kennebunkport in 1923. He and his wife Susannah held court here every May to December until his death in 1946.

Because the gentleman from Indiana wrote sensitively, even exquisitely, about change—how automobiles in particular led to the suburbanization of our country by subtly transforming our most intimate societal mannerisms and the way we looked at life (we Americans love our cars, and he saw it coming), it was a twist of fate straight from The Magnificent Ambersons when local Chrysler dealer Dick Mariano and his family acquired Unit No. 4 after Seawood went condo in 1986.

Now, “42 South Main Unit 4” can be yours for $779,000. It’s a place of joy and laughter, set on the second floor of the east wing of the mansion, with sparkling views of Gooch’s Beach, the Narragansett, and Wells Beach from several of the rooms.

While the structure itself was built in 1915, with a fieldstone foundation, fieldstone walls, and gardens dropping toward the sea, this seven-room, three-bedroom condo was remodeled in 1991. The very large living room goes front-to-back, following the lines of the original mansion. There’s a dining room, kitchen, downstairs bedroom, and study with hardwood built-ins. The study was likely an old-fashioned sleeping porch that’s been closed in. It overlooks the creek and back woods. You feel as though you’re in a tree house. So maybe you didn’t get the unit that was once Tarkington’s Jacobean paneled library downstairs. This is the one with the view. Picture windows in the dining area frame telescopic vistas of the beaches. You can also gaze at the Kennebunk River, where Tarkington kept his beloved schooner Regina at his boathouse, “The Floats.”

Upstairs are two bedrooms and two baths, one en suite. Goodies overall include a private patio, security, pantry, main-floor bedroom, full bath, and parking in a detached garage.

You’ll love Seawood. In fact, Tarkington would dare you to bring it into the 21st century. As he writes in The Magnificent Ambersons, “There aren’t any old times. When times are gone they’re not old, they’re dead! There aren’t any times but new times!” Taxes are $5,215.