Group Tours at Nickels-Sortwell House (1807)
Discover nineteenth-century Wiscasset
A National Historic Landmark
Shipping magnate Captain William Nickels built Nickels-Sortwell House in 1807 as his trophy house. After his death, the house endured years of use as a hotel before industrialist Alvin Sortwell purchased it in 1899 as a summer home for his family. The Sortwells lovingly restored the house over the years, decorating and furnishing it in the Colonial Revival style.
Visit this stunning Federal-style mansion and hear stories of life in the Gilded Age, when Wiscasset was a charmed summer getaway.
Location:
121 Main Street, Wiscasset, Maine
207-882-7169
Hours of Operation:
- June 1 to October 15, Friday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- All group tours must be scheduled by appointment. In addition to open days, group tours may be scheduled at times the museum is closed to the public.
Specialty Tours
We are happy to work with you to customize your experience.
- Guided House Tour: Enjoy an approximately one-hour guided tour; please allow one and a half hours for your visit.
- The Sortwells’ Wiscasset: Enjoy more stories and historic photos of the Sortwell family when the nineteenth century waned and the twentieth century began in a tour that focuses on the family’s enjoyment of the house and area during those charmed summers. Hear about steamboat and train travel that enabled Wiscasset’s revival as a fashionable destination for tourists and its rebirth as a mecca for Colonial Revival enthusiasts.
- Guided Garden Tour: After touring the house, learn about our exciting garden restoration project on a tour with a garden volunteer. Hear about the research and detective work that enabled us to design and plan the garden restoration.
Tour Details
- Up to 12 visitors can tour the house with each guide; generally we can accommodate up to 36 visitors in the house in one hour. Accommodations can be made for larger groups.
- Please note that the tour requires a considerable amount of standing and climbing stairs. If members of your group need special assistance, please let the museum know in advance.
Cost:
- Guided House Tour: $8 per adult, $7 per senior, and $4 per student for groups of 8 or more visitors. Additional rates apply for all other tours. Prices subject to change.
- Receptive tour operator rates available upon request.
- Tour leader and bus driver are welcome to a complimentary tour with the group.
- A non-refundable deposit based on your maximum number is due upon booking. The outstanding balance must be paid when the group arrives on-site for the tour.Please call two weeks in advance to confirm a guaranteed number of visitors.
- Please call two weeks in advance to confirm a guaranteed number of visitors.
Nearby Attractions:
- Take a self-guided walking tour of the historic village with Wiscasset’s Museum in the Streets™ or visit the 1811 Old Lincoln County Jail run by the Lincoln County Historical Association on Federal Street in Wiscasset.
- Enjoy a downtown filled with unique shops and eateries including Le Garage and Sarah’s Café and Treats.
- Visit another Historic New England property nearby. Package discounts available.
- Castle Tucker, Wiscasset – Dramatically sited on a hill overlooking the Sheepscot River, Castle Tucker tells the story of a prominent shipping family’s life on the coast of Maine over 150 years. One of the most intact Victorian-era homes in New England, it is filled with the family’s furnishings, including an original parlor and four generations of kitchen technology.
Amenities:
- One restroom in the museum
- Parking available in front of the barn or on the street
Please Remember:
- Food and drink are prohibited in the museum.
- Touching, leaning, or sitting on the objects is prohibited.
- Cell phones should be silenced prior to your tour.
- Your group will stay with the tour guide for the entire tour.
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