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Pembleton Edgecomb, builder of the Fairhaven Inn was born April 26, 1770, one of 11 children. He and his brother, John, received the land where Fairhaven sits from their uncle Brigadier General Samuel Thompson of Topsham. They immediately started to clear the land for farming.
Pembleton was courting Margaret Main of North Woolwich. He went back and forth across the Kennebec in a small boat, as there was no ferry in those days, to Margaret’s home which was a little above the Chops. When she and Pembleton were married in about 1788, he took her to his log cabin home by boat. Her father gave her, as a wedding gift, a family highboy which had been brought from England, but there was no boat large enough to hold it so it stayed behind in Woolwich.
Pembleton immediately started on a real home for his bride. He built a post and beam "two over two" that was the basis of the lovely inn of today. All the timber for the house was hand hewn. When Pembleton burned the "cut-down" for his fields, some of the beams caught fire. They were saved only by the most desperate efforts of Pembleton and John. Several of his seven children remember the charred beams in the house in which they were born. When a bathroom was added in one of the upstairs bedrooms, one of the original beams was discovered with the bark still attached. The bark is framed and hangs in the Tavern.
A series of ells were added over the years. The house was called "Mt. Edgecomb" after the family home near Cornwall in England. Many years later, Captain and Mrs. Christopher Carter (Margaret Edgecomb) told of sailing by Cornwall and seeing the English "Mt. Edgecomb", a large white house sitting high on a hill. The Fairhaven was originally a white clapboard farm house. See the pictures in the Tavern.
The Edgecombs were interested in lumber and the logs that came down the river in booms. They farmed their land, selling their crops, probably potatoes, corn and other vegetables in Bath. The last Edgecomb to live in the house was Mrs. Mary Edgecomb Paine who died about 1925. She was one of nine children and her sister was Margaret Edgecomb Carter who went to live in the Carter home on Green Street in Bath when she married Captain Christopher Carter in 1862.
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Theodore Paine Kendall was the last direct descendent of Pembleton and Margaret to be born on the lower floor of Mt. Edgecomb. When he was 11 days old, his aunt, Isabelle Carter carried him to the 2nd floor so that he would “rise high in life.” (From the diary of Ella Mae Paine Kendall)
And what of the Highboy that had to be left across the river in Woolwich? In the upper room of the Carter home on Green Street in Bath in the magnificent piece of furniture, the wedding gift to Margaret and Pembleton Edgecomb. It is a beautiful highboy, with the broken pediment top and all the lovely original brasses. It is well over 275 years old. However, Captain Carter had to buy it for his wife as the "gift" part had been forgotten over the years. (This information came from their daughter, Isabelle Edgecomb Carter).
After the death of Mrs. Paine, the house and remaining property, over 100 acres, was sold to the Gillies family in 1927. Mr. and Mrs. James (Big Jim) Gillies had a large and growing family. They needed more room so a number of additions were made, mostly on the back side. They also added the Tavern room in the late 1940's as they entertained a great deal. Except for the Tavern, the façade of the house is almost the same as it was in Pendleton and Margaret's day. The Gillies originally called the house and surrounding land, "Fairfields" but it somehow changed over the years to "Fairhaven".
Fairhaven was sold in 1969 to George and Ellen Miller who also purchased 27 acres surrounding it. For the next nine years, the Millers devoted their time and efforts refurbishing the estate into the beautiful home it is today.
In September of 1978, Gretchen Williams and Jane Wyllie bought the house and converted it to an inn, serving dinner as well as breakfast. It was called "Granes Fairhaven Inn", Granes being a combination of their names, Gretchen and Jane.
A weekend stay in 1987 resulted in the sale of the Inn to George and Sallie Pollard who became congenial and welcoming hosts. When the Reed's came in the spring of 1990 with their son, Ken, to interview at the Hyde school, they made them feel completely at home. They both felt a special bond with the Pollards and with Fairhaven and asked them to put them at the top of the list if they ever thought about selling the inn.
In the summer of 1993, George and Sallie told Dave and Susie that they should start thinking seriously if they wanted to make a move. They did, but had a difficult time finding the right buyer for their pastry shop in Washington DC. They finally decided that they would move anyway, made an offer in January, 1995 and moved to Fairhaven in May, 1995. Their pastry shop has since been sold to their manager and they never regretted their decision for a moment.
Our story began with a holiday party sponsored by the Bath Sunrise Rotary club where we were joined at our table by Dave and Susie. During casual conversation, Susie and Dave talked about their life and experience as Bed and Breakfast owners. During this conversation the Reeds mentioned that after 10 years being innkeepers at Fairhaven Inn, they were ready to make a change. A moment later, Andy, in a sarcastic manner says, "So when are you selling?" Ever so eloquently, Susie smiled and replied, "Make us an offer." Of course at that point I was picking my jaw up off the floor and staring in awe at my usually quiet husband. We made a plan to go out to the Inn after the holidays and have a tour. Even though Andy and I spent most of our young lives growing up in the city of Bath, neither of us had actually been in the inn before. We had driven by many times though. My two older sisters had been chamber maids briefly when it was owned by Gretchen and Jane.
Coincidentally, a year before Andy and I almost purchased a different property in Bath with the idea of converting it to a Bed and Breakfast. I had bought many books and had done loads of research. Fortunately things didn't work out. At the time we were disappointed, but had faith that something better would come along. It did. We loved the Inn and most importantly for us we could raise our children in Bath which we love, yet have the luxury of living in the country surrounded by 16 acres we could call our own. This was truly a miracle for us, a dream come true. We spent the next 6 months finishing the 10 years of renovation to our home on High Street for which we were awarded The Award of Excellence in Historical Preservation in October of 2005. We finally closed on the sale of the inn in July 2005 and the next chapter of Mt. Edgecomb began.
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