MAPLE HILL FARM HISTORY
HISTORY OF THE MAPLE HILL FARM B&B INN AND CONFERENCE CENTER
11 Inn Road, Hallowell, Maine MapleBB.com
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The land surrounding Maple Hill Farm was first cleared and settled in the late 1700s. William Oliver Vaughan—eldest son of Benjamin Vaughan and member of one of Hallowell’s founding families—lived on the property from 1806 until his death in 1825. The Vaughan land grant stretched from the Kennebec River to Cobbosseecontee Lake, with Maple Hill Farm situated near its center.
Although the Vaughans were prominent merchants and political figures, William preferred farming and natural pursuits. His father wrote in 1800 that William was “not mercantile” and was drawn instead to agriculture and the natural world. William commanded his own militia, considered the “finest and best drilled” in Maine in 1814. He raised fine wooled sheep, imported superior cattle, and remained active in shipping on the Kennebec, exporting lumber and oak staves and importing sugar, molasses, and other goods from the West Indies.
By the late 1800s, the property was known as Forrest View Farm. The Gregoire family purchased it in 1925, raising cattle and harvesting fruit trees. The building was converted into a bed and breakfast in the late 1980s and is now the Maple Hill Farm B&B Inn.
Before that, the farm was home to Samuel Currier, who raised horses and used them to haul fire engines for Hallowell in the 1850s. His son later took over, and the property became one of three farms comprising Pine Grove Farm from 1893 to 1897. During the era of horse drawn stagecoaches between Hallowell and Emery’s Grove, Maple Hill Farm served as a halfway stop for watering horses.
A fire at some point destroyed the original farmhouse. When rebuilt, an underground water tank was added for fire protection—believed to still exist today.
The current house was built in 1906 by Winthrop Worcester, who grew corn and raised dairy cows. A piece of original trim removed during porch repairs revealed the date, the builder’s signature (E.B. Stickney of Hallowell), and a penciled note describing September 1906 as having “only two little showers.” Worcester married Grace Ella Blake that same year and later left farming to work for the Shelby Steel Company in Pennsylvania. In the 1990s, his son visited the Inn, read its history, and gifted a handcrafted wooden train.
The Gregoire family acquired the farm in 1924 and continued farming until selling it to Scott and Linda Ballard—descendants of midwife Martha Ballard—in 1966. The property remained an active farm until its sale and conversion into a B&B in 1988.
Prior owner, Scott Cowger purchased the house at a foreclosure sale in 1992. With partner Vincent Hannan, he restored the barn, reintroduced farm animals, and expanded the business. Major renovations completed in 2001 added guest rooms with private baths, a lobby and office, a reconstructed Carriage House (featuring a restored State House window), and a porte cochère connecting the buildings.
In 2004, the Gathering Place meeting and event center, a commercial kitchen, laundry facilities, and a wind turbine were added, positioned discreetly behind the farmhouse. The Inn became Maine’s first certified “Environmental Leader” green lodging establishment in 2005, followed by the installation of a large solar electric and hot water system in 2006.
Scott & Vince continued to build the business over multiple decades until selling to Angela, David, Shelley and Corey in January 2026.