Built in 1895 for Horace Shaylor. Design by John Calvin Stevens

The easterly half of a Colonial Revival double/row house in the West End neighborhood.

Read more: 147 Pine Street

This is part 2 of the look at 147-149 Pine Street. Part 1 looked at the architecture of the pair of houses and the history of 149 Pine Street.

It was, most likely, a gift to their daughter.

Horace & Augusta Shaylor had lived on the corner of Pine & Thomas Streets for over 20 years when Horace purchased the land from Henry Maling in 1895. Luella Evelyn, their 24 year old daughter, had married a banker originally from Thorndike Maine named Harry Harmon in 1892 and had given birth to a daughter, Theodora Virginia, in 1893. Luella was also a painter and sculptor. It may have been a need for space, and a studio, that informed the decision to build our subject.
John Calvin Stevens was a painter and this may have been one of the reasons he was chosen for the project. What connection Charles and Ida Allen, who were the owners of 149 Pine Street, had to Horace Shaylor is not clear. Stevens may have acted as the facilitator allowing for a unified design for 2 different clients.

Set on the corner of Pine & Neal Streets, 147 Pine would have received substantial sunlight from the east facing Neal Street facade. This might seem to indicate a good location for a studio and there is a large bank of windows in the third floor gable but I am not so sure. Many sources claim northern light is preferred for the consistent color and lack of glare and hotspots. There is, on the third floor of the rear facing north, a bank of windows that may indicate the location of a studio. This bank of windows is oddly placed compared to the single unit in the gable of 149 Pine Street. Was this to give more light the space? Census records for 1900 & 1910 indicate the Harmons had live in servants so a space for them would probably been provided on the third floor as well. This may explain the odd little dormer with an oversized vent protruding from it. Most likely a bathroom.

In September of 1914, Virginia Harmon married Waldemar Adams. Waldemar was a Portland native. His father, Silas, was the president of the Sen Sen Chicle, formerly Curtis Chewing Gum, on Fore Street.

Although Luella & Harry Harmon had lived at 147 Pine Street since 1895, they didn’t actually own it until 1919. That was the year Horace Shaylor deeded the property to Harry. This didn’t stop the Harmons from building a garage on the Neal Street end of the property sometime around 1914. An article from the September 20, 1914 Portland Sunday Telegram confirms that Harry owned a 28 hp Jackson.

Luella Shaylor Harmon, sometimes referred to as Evelyn Harmon, painted, mostly miniatures, and was a sculptor. She studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and was a member of several artist clubs including the Copley Society and the Pennsylvania Society of Miniature Painters where she exhibited and served as an exhibit judge. The Portland Evening Express printed a substantial article on Luella in the July 27th issue.

As Harry climbed the executive ladder, he was spending more time in Boston. In the mid 1920s, perhaps after Horace Shaylor died in 1925, the Harmons moved to Boston where they lived on Beacon Hill and had a large cottage in the Bass Rocks area of Gloucester. They retained ownership of our subject until after Harry’s death in 1939.

After the Harmons moved to Massachusetts, 147 Pine Street was rented to Norman & Helen Brown. Brown was born in Berlin New Hampshire where his family ran the Brown Company, later Brown Paper, but had grown up in Portland. The company had a wharf and warehouse complex on Portland’s waterfront.
By 1930, the Browns had moved to Bowdoin Street. In their place were Henry M & Marion E Payson. Henry was descended from Edward Payson and, like other Paysons we’ve encountered, was a stock broker. He married Mary Conley in 1920 and the had 2 children when they moved in. How long they stayed is not clear but, by 1940, they had moved to Falmouth. 1940 was the year 147 Pine Street was sold to a pair of Portland School teachers named L Pauline Mann and Edith S Pitt. (Authors Note: I mistakenly placed Edith Pitt at 149 Pine Street in 1942 when I wrote that article. I have corrected it.)

Edith Pitt was born to George & Isabel in Portland in 1897. George was an accountant for Twitchell & Champlin. The Pitts were Canadian natives who had come to the US in 1883 & 1886 respectively. Isabel L Pauline Mann was born to Charles & Mary in Portland in 1890. Charles was a merchant turned stock broker. Charles came to the US from Canada in 1880 and Mary was a Maine native. Isabel’s obituary of 1973 said that she and Edith were ‘cousins who lived together” but I cannot establish a family connection. Edith & Pauline sold our subject and moved to 177 Pine Street in 1969.

147 Pine Street is listed as a single family residence. The condition is good.

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