Kennebunkport Historical Society

Designer Show House

From Saturday, June 23, through Saturday, July 14, 2012, the Kennebunkport Historical Society sponsored a Designer Show House at the former Kenneth Roberts Estate, Rocky Pastures, in Kennebunkport.  This is the first time the house had ever been open to the general public.

    Show House Hours were 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. every day; except Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and Wednesday 12 noon-7 p.m.

The estate is located off Washburn Drive, which is 2 miles past the Colony Hotel via Ocean Avenue, across from Sandpiper Lane (0.6 miles beyond Walker’s Point).

 

 

In conjunction with the Show House, there were the following series of lectures:

  • Monday, June 25, 12 Noon to 1:30 - The Colony Hotel – Lunch and Learn - Featured speaker: Joyce Butler, historian, archivist/curator, and writer. The topic is “Kenneth Roberts: The Man.” Guests will look at the talents and colorful personality of one of America’s most loved writers of historical fiction. Butler chronicled his life at Rocky Pastures and told anecdotes of his family and friends.   Tickets to the show house are included. $45 per person.
  • Monday, July 2, 12 Noon to 1:30 - The Colony Hotel – Lunch and Learn - Featured speaker: Sandy Oliver, renowned food historian and writer. The topic was “Kenneth Roberts’ chapter on food in his book, Trending into Maine.” This chapter unleashed a torrent of reader response that initiated the cookbook, Good Maine Food, authored by his niece and secretary, Marjorie Mosser. Tickets to the show house are included. $45 per person.
  • Monday, July 9, 12 Noon to 1:30 - The Nonantum Resort – Lunch and Learn - Featured speaker: etiquette specialist Andrea Pastore. The topic was “Navigating a Place Setting.” Andrea presented etiquette situations and thoughtful, fun and useful solutions. For more information about Andrea, visit http://etiquettesolutionsbyandrea.com/.  Tickets to the show house are included. $45 per person.

 The Kenneth Roberts Estate, or Rocky Pastures, is a sprawling stone house that was built for Kenneth Roberts in 1938 by the architect Frazier Forman Peters of Westport, CT.  Set in rolling meadows and wooded areas with ancient stone walls, Rocky Pastures is a 6,000 square foot house with 12 rooms that was recently updated, combining old world charm with modern conveniences.  The property is a stone’s throw from Kennebunkport’s picturesque Ocean Avenue.  It was here that Kenneth Roberts penned his popular novels of historical fiction that earned him a 1957 Pulitzer Prize in the Special Awards and Citations category.

This Designer Show House is generously sponsored by Bella Botox, Captain Lord Mansion, The Nonantum Resort, On the Marsh Bistro, SoldonBetsy.com at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, WHOM 94.9FM, and the York County Coast Star.

Click to see a photo gallery, courtesy of the York County Coast Star.