In partnership with the Maine Memory Network Maine Memory Network

Tate House Museum Facts

Founded:
Tate House was opened as an historic house museum in 1935 by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maine.

Mission:
The mission of Tate House Museum is to connect people to our colonial roots and to help them discover, imagine, and value the relevance of this history to our lives.

Facilities:
Tate House was built in 1755 for Captain George Tate (1700-1794) and his family, who had recently arrived in the Colonies from Britain.

Tate served as the Senior Mast Agent for the British Royal Navy, overseeing the cutting and shipping of white pines from Maine to England. This position assured Tate's success and his status in the community is reflected by the style of architecture he selected for his home.

With its clapboards still unpainted, Tate House is one of two residences in Maine with an unusual indented gambrel roof. As the only pre-Revolutionary home in Greater Portland that is open to the public, the impressive period furnishings, beautiful grounds and herb gardens, and unique architecture of Tate House offer an insightful glimpse at the 18th century and life in Colonial Maine.