Capt. George Scott House

The Scott House stands on the east side of Federal Street, overlooking the Sheepscot River to the east, a short way north of the center of Wiscasset. It is a 2+1⁄2-story masonry structure, built out of brick with sandstone trim. A single wood-frame ell extends to the rear of the house, toward the river, where it is joined to a barn that appears to be 5/8 of an octagon. The main block is covered by an eight-sided roof with an octagonal cupola at its center, with extended eaves adorned with modillions. The main entrance faces the street, and is sheltered by a porch supported by four chamfered square posts and covered by a modillioned roof. Windows are set in rectangular openings, with small single-pane windows in the upper half-story that have rounded corners. The interior retains many original features, and remnants of others, such as a part of a dumbwaiter used to bring food from the original basement kitchen to the dining room.[2]

The house was built in 1855, and was inspired by the work of Orson Squire Fowler, who promoted the design and construction of octagon houses, resulting in a construction fad in the 1850s and 1860s. It was built for George Scott, a Wiscasset native and successful ship's captain. A later resident was Edith Augusta Sawyer, an author of children's books.[2]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Maine
• List of octagon houses