NORWAY — The Friends of the Gingerbread House are very grateful to have received a $20,000 grant from the Davis Family Foundation to help fund the restoration of the house’s historic porch. The distinctive porch, which once traversed the side of the building, will be reconstructed for one floor, using salvaged pieces of the previous structure. Where necessary, pieces will be remade. The Friends of the Gingerbread House will be initiating a fundraising campaign to match and exceed this grant donation and are hoping for wide community support to complete the iconic exterior.

Work on the porch will begin this summer and continue as long as the weather allows. Restoration of salvaged pieces into reusable parts will continue through the winter. Once the porch is completed, the Preservation Plan for the house’s exterior will be complete.

The next phase of development for the house involves the participation of Maine Preservation, which has agreed to be the protector for the preservation easements which will be put into place to insure the historic and architectural qualities of the building in perpetuity. The Board of Directors have begun discussion with Brad Miller of Maine Preservation to initiate this process.

The Gingerbread House, long a fixture on Main Street in Norway, was moved to its current location in 2011 and a Preservation Plan was put into place to proceed with its rehabilitation for future use. Community and foundation support has helped to complete the project thus far, and Maine Preservation has cited the rehabilitation of the house as an example of strong grassroots preservation efforts.

Throughout the current spring and summer, the group has held well-attended Open Houses for the public to see the inside and discuss the plans for the future. The next Open House will be August 13, from 10-1, coinciding with the Friends of the Library Book Sale. Everyone is invited to see the drawings for the porch project and to see the interior of the building.