Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

September 22, 2025

'Everything but the kitchen sink’ up for auction amid pending sale of Kennebunk’s Wedding Cake House

Wedding Cake House exterior (yellow and white) Photo / Courtesy of Peter Morneau, Morneau Studios Ahead of Kennebunk's famed Wedding Cake House changing hands, its contents will be sold in an auction being organized by a Freeport auction house.
By Renee Cordes

Amid a pending sale of Kennebunk’s famed Wedding Cake House, the historic home’s art and furnishings are going up for bid in an auction being organized by Casco Bay Auctions in Freeport.

The home, whose nuptial nickname reflects its resemblance to a yellow wedding cake trimmed with white icing, was built in 1825 as a Federal-style brick home for shipbuilder George W. Bourne and his wife, Jane.

Touted as the most photographed house in Maine, the seven-bedroom abode at 104 Summer St. was listed for $2.49 million by Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty. A sale is pending.

Ahead of a change in ownership for the first time in 26 years, the home's extensive collection of art, furnishings and decorations will be sold in an auction. Online bidding is set to start Sept. 28, followed by an in-person auction in Freeport on Oct. 18 that will be broadcast via a video feed.

Highlights include works by Paul Cadmus, Channing Hare, Trafford Klots and Warren Sheppard, along with porcelain and other fine furnishings. The catalog, due to be released later his week, will encompass around 600 lots in total.

"We're selling everything but the kitchen sink," quipped auctioneer Andrew Davis, owner of Casco Bay Auctions.

Art items
Photos / Courtesy of Casco Bay Auctions
A total of 600 lots including these objects will be put up for bid by Casco Bay Auctions.

Davis said that much of the art — mostly oil paintings as well as a lot of portraits, some landscapes and “a little bit of sculpture” — dates from the mid-20th century, ranging from around 1930 to 1980.

“It’s a collection put together over quite a long period of time,” he noted.

The former photographer founded Casco Bay Auctions in 2019 and expects strong interest from buyers from Maine and elsewhere.

"Plenty of tourists are familiar with the Wedding Cake House," he said. "I think we'll have a pretty broad interest."

Sign up for Enews

Mainebiz web partners

Most Recent

Most Recent

Related Content

Thumbnail Former Bette Davis property in Cape Elizabeth sets southern Maine price record
Thumbnail A Kennebunkport oceanfront home sells for $12M — in 90 minutes
Thumbnail Newsworthy people and performances for June 16, 2025
Thumbnail Development of 43-unit Wyeth condo complex wraps up in Falmouth

0 Comments

Order a PDF