The Captain Reuben Merrill House is located on the north side of West Main Street (Maine State Route 115), just east of its junction with Newell Road. It is a large, three-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof, and a three-story ell extending to the rear. It is finished in clapboard siding and rests on a granite foundation. The main facade is five bays wide, with a centered entrance that is sheltered by a hood that acts as a balcony for the second floor. First- and second-floor windows are rectangular sash, while the third floor has short, rectangular fixed windows.[2]
The cast-iron fence at the street is a rare survivor of its age.[3]
The house was built in 1858 for Reuben Merrill (1818–1875), a ship's captain who was a native of nearby Cumberland.[2] It was designed by Thomas J. Sparrow, the first major architect originating from Portland, Maine, and was considered the finest home in Yarmouth.[4][5][6] It was built by John Dunham, a local master builder, and was built at was then the outskirts of Yarmouth village.[2]
Merrill died when was knocked overboard from his ship while off San Francisco in 1875. He drowned, aged about 57.
In 2011, the Merrill family leased the home to Maine Preservation, an historic preservation organization.[7]
