Blaine House to become a real home once again Governor’s mansion readied for new first family

AUGUSTA – The Blaine House is once again becoming home to Maine’s first family after an eight-year hiatus.

The moving van is due to pull up to the governor’s official residence around noon today. The family will have a couple of days to settle in before Gov.-elect John Baldacci is inaugurated Wednesday.

Baldacci’s predecessor, Gov. Angus King, broke with tradition and chose to remain at his home in Brunswick. Before that, every governor since 1919 had lived at the Colonial Revival home across from the Capitol.

After his election, Baldacci said he would live in the governor’s mansion during the week and return to Bangor to be with his family on weekends.

But he had a change of heart after having been away from his wife and son for much of the past eight years while commuting to Washington to serve in Congress. He wanted the entire family to be together, at the Blaine House.

“I’m looking forward to living with my wife and son,” he said. “I’m looking forward to my wife and son, for us to be under one roof.”

Until the end of the school year, Karen and Jack will commute to Bangor. Karen will finish teaching her kindergarten class and Jack will finish the sixth grade before they become permanent Augusta residents.

Just a few days before the big move, the residence manager of the Blaine House appeared unruffled by the Baldaccis’ impending arrival.

Although there has been no regular bustle of family life for eight years, the house was maintained as a working residence during King’s administration, so the staff has not been overwhelmed with tasks, Sue Plummer said.

A vacuum was droning upstairs, one staff member needed Plummer’s signature and another was dusting furniture in a parlor known as the Sun Room.

“There isn’t that much to do,” she said.

The house is open for tours and is used for teas and other events. King used offices there while the West Wing of the State House was undergoing renovations, and has stayed for weekend visits with his family.

Besides Plummer, there are two other full-time staff members. One is a chef and the other is an assistant who helps with cooking and events held at the house. Part-time and on-call workers assist.

“We’re here, as we say, to accommodate the first family,” said Plummer, who began her job during the McKernan administration.

It was under Republican Gov. John McKernan’s administration that the Blaine House underwent a major restoration to return it to its 1919 appearance. The previous remodeling had been in 1919, when the prominent Portland-based architect John Calvin Stevens removed many of the Victorian additions.

The house was tied to politics before it was given to the state in 1919 for use as the governor’s official residence.

Harriet Blaine bought the house in 1862 with $5,000 she received from her husband for her birthday. James Blaine was a star of the Republican Party, and served as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a U.S. senator and secretary of state. He won his party’s presidential nomination in 1884, but lost the election to Grover Cleveland.

After the couple’s deaths, the Blaine children used the house from time to time. Gov. John Hill lived there from 1897 to 1902, and some wealthy legislators rented the home in 1905.

In 1917, the house was given as a 21st birthday present to James Blaine’s grandson, Walker Blaine Beale. After Beale died in France during World War I, the home was given to the state in his memory.

When the Baldaccis and their pets – two cats and his late mother’s springer spaniel Murphy – take up residence, they needn’t feel as though they’re walking on eggshells in their new home.

Although the Blaine House functions in part as a museum, most of the pieces can withstand everyday use, said Earle Shettleworth, director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

“I think that 80 years ago, the state acquired appropriate pieces,” he said. “They were simple and classical in design, but they were also very well constructed. And so for the most part, they’ve held up very well.”

Baldacci will be moving from much tighter quarters. For about half of his time in Washington, he shared a house and chores with up to seven other members of Congress while commuting home to Bangor as often as possible.

His new living arrangement will mean more quality time with Jack and reinforcing family rules, like pulling for the Red Sox.

“He has strayed from rooting for the Red Sox,” said Baldacci, who jokingly attributed the problem to “lack of parental supervision.”