How can one house be in two countries at the same time?
Hi everyone, Ken here, welcome to "ThisHouse"
Just north of the US state of Maine sits Campobello island, a scenic landscape
offering panoramic views of the ocean. On maps, it appears to lie just outside the US, in Canada,
but upon closer inspection, you will find that there is a house resting on shared soil.
So the question arises, how did this come to be? And how could a house belong to two
different countries? Let’s go all the way back to the turn of the century to find out.
In the late 1800s, the national borders between the United States and Canada were
not as defined as they are now, and often times, people living along the border would
dispute which country they actually lived in and to whom they owed taxes.
While this would make for an easy explanation, it is not the case for the Roosevelt Cottage.
In 1897, architect Willard T Sears set out to find the perfect place to build his summer house.
He ventured across the waters, north of Maine to arrive on Campobello Island.
There he built a rambling shingle style house,
and at the time, everyone agreed that it was certainly in Canadian territory.
Later on, in 1908, the house was purchased by Sara Roosevelt and gifted to her son, and
future president of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt. He, along with his wife, Eleanor, would
escape the summer heat in the US and head up north to their cottage to enjoy the cooler weather.
Not only was there a vast lawn for playing sports, but they could take to the waters in
their sailboat, enjoying waves until dusk. Though the couple was considered old money
and were part of high society, they never meant for their humble cottage to become ostentatious.
Instead of boasting a fancy parlor or a drawing room, they chose to maintain a simple living
room furnished with wicker furniture. Here, their family could gather to play games,
read, and enjoy the scenic views. Moving deeper into the house, we will find the dining room.
While this space is considerably more formal than the living room, it was not finished
out with marble columns nor gilded wall panels as was expected for a family of their social status.
Instead, it boasted lively wallpaper and simple, timeless furniture.
Though the family did not sacrifice too much luxury,
their staff still would have prepared their meals in the kitchen. And it would have been
completely out of the question to assume they would have done their own laundry either.
As for the other amenities, in a time when indoor plumbing was just becoming popular in
the larger cities, they had a full, 3 piece bathroom in their remote island getaway.
Going upstairs we will find the bedrooms, starting with Franklin and Eleanor’s bedroom
with light wood furniture, white textiles, and floral wallpaper.
In the guest bedroom, this tranquil palette of organic textures continues with,
allowing the views to become a bold, pop of color.
After Franklin passed away, Eleanor sold the property to petrol tycoon, Armand Hammer.
Upon Eleanor’s death, Hammer realized the cultural
significance of the property and decided to gift the estate to the government,
but there was just one problem, he did not choose just one government to deed the house to. Rather
than founding a non-profit to run the house as a museum of Americana in Canada and then seeding it
with plenty of money to sustain itself, he chose to create what was possibly the most confusing
real-estate deal in the joint histories of the two nations by gifting it both the US and Canada.
After years of deliberation, and each country claiming legal rights to the property,
the two governments formed a treaty. It was decided that the estate would become an
international park which would be jointly owned, controlled, and maintained by both governments.
In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson signed the required
legal documents to open the park to each of their countries’ respective citizens.
Since then, it has been managed by the US National Parks Service and by Parks Canada.
Today, Roosevelt Campobello International Park remains open to the public where visitors can
experience the only house on the continent to exist in 2 different countries at the same time.
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