New England Road Trip: Victoria Mansion, Olson House, & the Farnsworth Museum | Portland & Rockland, ME

I began the day by visiting the Victoria Mansion in Portland. It was amazing!! The first floor has been restored, but the second floor is in need of some love. There isn't a guided tour of the house, but there are guides stationed in various rooms whom you can ask questions.

The home has incredible wood, painted details, and carved marble fireplaces. It wasn't as large as I expected it to be (4-6 rooms on the ground floor and the same on the second floor) and it took me about an hour to tour. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed inside.

Next I drove to the Olson House in Cushing, Maine. The house is owned by the Farnsworth Museum and it is the home depicted in Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World. The house itself is extremely bare and run-down; however, our tour guide was FANTASTIC! She told us about the history of the area, the Olson family, and the Wyeth's relationship with the Olsons. Christina was friends with Andrew's wife Betsy (Betsy's family summered in the area when she was young). Andrew and Betsy continued to summer in the area after they were married and often stayed with the Olson family.

Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World, 1948 (this is a poster; the original is at MoMA in New York)

Although the home is bare, there are small reproductions of some paintings Wyeth created when he stayed in the home displayed near the locations he painted.

Pro tip: Make sure you have printed instructions or a screenshot of how to get to and from the Olson House. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere and there isn't great cell phone service until you get closer to a town. Take it from me, it's not a fun experience to be driving in rural Maine with no cell service and no idea if you are going in the right direction.

After visiting the Olson House, I drove to Rockland to visit the Farnsworth Museum. They have a good collection of works by N.C. and Andrew Wyeth. They had a cool exhibition of several Andrew Wyeth paintings paired with their corresponding preparatory sketches. There was also an interesting exhibit of paintings Wyeth created in Rockland along with a map that indicated where he painted them. Outside of the Wyeth's, I found their collection to be lacking. However, if you are interested in the N.C. and/or Andrew Wyeth, you should definitely visit the Farnsworth.