Monmouth Museum

Description

This is the interior of the second floor of Cumston Hall. The following descriptions are excerpted from the Lewiston Journal of May, 1900.

"This is opera house style, with sloping floor, balcony, stage and boxes."
"Of course the eye is first caught by the stage and the proscenium arch. Above the arch are three huge panels containing heroic figures. The panels in order represent Music, Drama [in the center], Oratory."
"The prevailing tints in the auditorium are old rose and Nile green; the relief work is in old ivory and pricked out with gold. All the beautiful relief work on the proscenium and the balcony front and in the whole interior is from original design and has been made on the premises. The rococo work is especially noticeable from its exquisiteness. The decorations follow the renaissance effect."
"This hall will be the first building in Monmouth to be lighted by electricity."

This photograph may have been taken by Harry H. Cochrane.


All the paintings, including the ornate drop curtain, were painted by Harry H. Cochrane.

The head carpenter on the project was Mellen J. Hanscom of Leeds, and the head plasterer was Daniel Kavanaugh of Lewiston.

Source- Arthur Morgan Griffiths, Centennial History of Cumston Hall Monmouth, Maine (Monmouth, Maine, The Monmouth Press, 2000), pp. 14-16, quoting Lewiston Journal, May, 1900.

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