Norumbega Castle, Queen Anne style castle in Camden, Maine.
Norumbega Castle is a 2+1⁄2-story house at 63 High Street, north of downtown Camden, Maine, finished in rusticated stone with brick and wooden trim. Its rectangular plan is arranged asymmetrically: the main facade has three sections, the center rising three stories to a stepped gable, the right section projecting beneath a conical turret. New York architect Arthur B. Jennings designed it, and it now houses the Norumbega Inn.
Built between 1886 and 1887 for Joseph Barker Stearns, an inventor who made his fortune through patents in duplex telegraphy, the castle emerged during a period when wealthy Americans constructed grand summer homes along the Maine coast. The timing of its construction coincided with the rise of coastal resort communities in New England.
The building sits within the High Street Historic District and reflects how wealthy residents of late 1800s Maine chose to display their status through architecture. Its distinctive tower and stone facade remain a prominent local landmark that shapes the character of the surrounding neighborhood.
Norumbega Castle stands north of downtown Camden on the southeast side of High Street (US Route 1), past its junction with Marine Drive. The building is now the Norumbega Inn, a bed and breakfast; its carriage house, designed by the same architect, is separately owned. The main facade has three sections, with the entrance side facing High Street.
The house was designed by New York City architect Arthur B. Jennings, who also designed its carriage house; that outbuilding is now separately owned and is itself listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The main house was listed in 1974.
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