The Visit: On April 24th, while visiting the Portland Museum of Art, I took a quick visit to the back of the building where the McLellan House is located. This post-revolutionary house represents the wealth of Major Hugh McLellan as an elite shipping tycoon during a booming maritime economy. Most of the rooms are open for viewing and have explanations of what each room would have been used for. One of the top floor rooms has now been turned into a small library where visitors can read, relax and look out the window down onto lower Portland. 
Historical Significance: The McLellan House was built in 1801 for Major Hugh McLellan. He was the owner of Maine's largest shipping fleet as well as the founder of the first bank in Maine. The architect that built the house was John Kimball Sr., who moved to Portland in 1784. After McLellan lost the house due to the British trade embargo crippling, ownership of the resident exchange hands until in 1880 when the Sweats acquired the house. Mrs.Sweats past away in 1908 but before she did she deeded the house to the Portland Society of Art, which now is the Portland Museum of Art. In 2000 construction began to restore the house and the section of the building where now most of the art is on display and by 2002 the museum had its grand opening.
Resources: McLellan House:http://portlandmuseum.org/about/facts/mclellan.shtml
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