The Bray House is a historic house at 100 Pepperell Road in Kittery Point, Maine, United States. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the state. Long thought to be a 17th-century structure, the architectural evidence indicates the home was probably not built before 1720.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[2]
History
The Bray House is set on the south side of Pepperell Road (Maine State Route 103), on a site overlooking the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame residential structure, whose main block is five bays wide, with a side-gable roof, large central chimney, clapboard siding, and granite foundation. The entrance, centered on the river-facing south facade, is flanked by sidelight windows and pilasters and topped by an entablature. A former two-story extension to the east added two bays, and a narrow connecting segment joined the main house to a second 2+1⁄2-story house, oriented perpendicular to the main block, that was moved to this property in the early 20th century.[2] All but the original central structure were demolished in 2017.
While this location is known to be the place where John Bray built a house in about 1662, the construction methods and styling of the house are consistent with a mid-18th century construction date.
Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates fame purchased the house at auction in 2008 and undertook a partial restoration.[3] He sold the restored property for $2.0 million; the new owners have demolished all but the original structure, which is now flanked by modernist angular new construction.