Would you like to be surrounded by history and imagine what it was like to have lived in a house in the 1700s or 1800s yet still enjoy all the amenities of today’s world? The website www.HistoricalLodging.com has been created to help you have that experience.

All of the historic homes on it are offered for rent and are fully furnished as a vacation rental. When you rent one of these houses, you are helping to preserve them.  The owners of these properties are anxious to share their homes with you in order to raise money to maintain them. 

When Audrey Leeds Miller, co-owner of Cottage Connection, was 16 years old, her first job was as a tour guide in the Nickels-Sortwell House.  “Jenny Weeks would be so happy to know that the Nickels-Sortwell House is being preserved and cared for in this creative way,” said Miller. “Gaining an appreciation of what used to be deepens one’s appreciation for what our ancestors have given us and what we are made of. New Englanders are tough; Americans are tough! Mainers have a history of independence, courage, caring, honesty and patriotism that dates back to before the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Our rugged coastline and mountainous terrain have perhaps helped preserve our unique, quaint cities and towns.”

Here is a sampling of what we have on our website: 

Barnacles Cottage on Southport Island offers spectacular views of lower Mark Island from the picture windows and open deck. Captain Kent's Place, Sawyers Island, Boothbay, has modern amenities, yet the historical atmosphere of this cottage remains much the same as when it was built in 1832. Ledgelawn By The Sea (a.k.a. Captain’s Quarters), East Boothbay, was built in the late 1800s as an inn for the Eastern Steamship company. This home was the site of the Boothbay Harbor episode of the PBS made for TV series, “Getting Away Together.” You can watch the show at www.gettingawaytogether.com

The grand 1807 mansion, the Nickels-Sortwell House, Wiscasset has a special, newly renovated section. This is the first time anyone has been invited to spend the night in one of Historic New England’s house museums.

The Tarbox House, Westport Island, was built in the 1800s. This classic Greek Revival farmhouse is perched on a hillside overlooking a historic stone wharf and granite-clad waterfront.

The Villa, Ocean Point, East Boothbay, is one of the original buildings and part of the Ocean Point Colony Trust. This 115-year-old property provides a 180-degree view of Linekin Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.