With its bright brick façade and commanding center tower, the 1875 Day-Reynolds-Gray House stands out like an exclamation point on Lewiston’s leafy Main Street.
Named for its string of prominent owners, including mayor Joseph Day and Roscoe Reynolds, a councilor and alderman, the Italianate home features unusual Queen Anne massing. The intriguing style likely appealed to the building’s fourth owner, William P. Gray, who controlled more than 150 theaters in New England in the 1920s, including some of the most architecturally significant ones in Maine. (An example that’s still standing: the Beaux Arts-Georgian Revival Colonial Theater on Augusta’s Water Street.) Alas, Gray passed away less than a year after moving in here, but his legacy perseveres in the superbly preserved building that has borne his name for nearly a century.
Portland-based writer Julie Senk holds degrees in history and historic preservation and provides property surveys and architectural analyses to homeowners and businesses. To learn more about her work, visit northernvernacular.com.