Nichols family summer residence

6 Camp Comfort Avenue, Old Orchard Beach, Maine

c. 1903 (Alterations only) | Alterations - Residence | Extant, Heavily Altered

William inherited this house from his parents; his father, the Rev. John Taylor Gilman Nichols, served as a Unitarian minister in Saco, Maine for over 50 years. In 1884, the (elder) Nicholses built a summer house in nearby Old Orchard as a family retreat. Following the senior Rev. Nichols’s death in 1900, the property was transferred to his eldest son, William, and his wife, Minerva. The latter, her daughter Adelaide recalled, “tactfully enlarged” the house, adding a two-story volume at the back of the house and enlarging the existing house with a large dormer on the street side. The barn and shed, also by the architect, served as children’s play spaces.

Summering in Maine proved impractical for the family, and the property was sold in 1906.

— Researched and written by Bill Whitaker