Now open for the 2019 season
Visit the elegant home of Maine's last Mast Agent and see how New England forests fueled colonial industry, strengthened the British Royal Navy, and sparked rebellion.
The house was constructed for Captain George Tate (1700-1794) and his family who had arrived in the Colonies around 1750. 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 subsumed dormer in the 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.