Northeastern Housing Corporation

This is a modest 90-lot subdivision built in 1941, abutting Bowdoin College. Although built during World War II, the subdivision likely was not for wartime housing since it pre-dates the adjacent Brunswick Naval Air Station, commissioned in 1943. Homes are similar in character and typically consist of 1-½ story Cape Cod styles, which represent the small footprints and restrained details popular at the time for starter homes. Most have similar street setbacks and one-car garages to the rear, typical of the period when garages were a property’s subordinate feature. About a dozen homes surround a half-acre triangular park, unusual for its stand of mature pine trees that pre-date home construction. Surrounded by the college, a cemetery, and the naval base, the contained neighborhood is a destination rather than a through way. Although simple and low-cost when built, it is remarkable today for its lack of contemporary additions and as an example of a style that preceded developers’ suburban tract homes after World War II.