I’m Jake Newman. The Portland Logbook is my love letter to this city: the food worth hunting down, the history that refuses to die, the corners you only find if you’re paying attention.

Portland’s Most Beautiful Architectural Lie

A few days ago, I went through an old brick house on Danforth Street with a client. It had seven fireplaces, arched doorways, and crown molding so elaborate it bordered on absurd.

Near the top of the house, we found a narrow passage hidden behind what felt like a coat closet. It opened onto a spiral staircase leading to a small room with windows on every side, overlooking Portland.

Most people would call it a widow’s walk.

You have probably heard the story before. A sea captain leaves Portland on a long voyage. His wife climbs to the roof each day and watches the harbor, waiting for his sails to appear. Days turn into months. Eventually, everyone else understands that the ship is not coming home, but she keeps returning anyway.

It is a fantastic story. Sad, romantic, maritime, and just believable enough that nobody thinks to question it.

It is also mostly not true.

There were surely people who used rooftops to watch ships come and go. Portland was built around the harbor, so it would be strange if they did not. But there is little evidence that these rooms and platforms were generally designed for sailors’ wives waiting for husbands who never returned.

Part of the confusion is that we call several different things a widow’s walk.

An open platform with a railing is usually a roof walk. A smaller structure on top of a roof is often called a cupola. A room large enough to climb into, with windows arranged around a view, is closer to a belvedere, an Italian word that basically means beautiful view.

There is no need to become the person correcting strangers on the sidewalk. But once you know the difference, you start noticing several different kinds sitting above Portland’s older houses.

The room on Danforth Street is better described as a belvedere. It arrived with the Italianate style, which became fashionable in the United States in the middle of the 19th century, during the age of sail. Italianate houses borrowed the feeling of Italian country villas, with low roofs, deep overhangs, decorative brackets, tall windows, and, on grander examples, a room or tower at the top.

These rooms were built for beauty, but they also served a practical purpose.

Before electric light and air conditioning, the center of a large house could be dark and hot. A windowed room above the central staircase brought daylight into the upper hall. When its windows opened, rising warm air could escape through the highest point of the house while cooler air was drawn in below.

It was an early form of air conditioning, if air conditioning also gave you a panoramic view and made the entire neighborhood look at your home.

The Danforth Street houses were built in 1855 for Samuel Spring. He and his nephew Andrew were successful traders in Argentine tallow and beef. The two men built neighboring Italianate houses, both crowned with rooms above the roofline.

The feature was not an odd maritime relic. It was part of an expensive, fashionable house built by someone who had done very well in Portland’s trading economy.

It brought in light. It helped move hot air. It offered a view. And it made the house look important from several blocks away.

The widow's story survives because it fits Portland so perfectly. But I think the real answer is better.

Read the Full Story of the Spring Houses

The Two Walk-Up Windows I Keep Going Back To

There are two walk-up windows in the West End that I have become slightly attached to.

Neither is particularly easy to notice. One is on Pine Street. The other is tucked around the Walker Street side of the Yordprom building, where you would never find it unless someone told you to turn the corner.

Both hand you very good food through a hole in the wall, and I keep finding myself going back.

I only found Cantina Calafia because Julie and Don from Zephyr Ice told me I needed to go. There is a flag outside, a sign, and an actual taco window on the side of the building, but somehow it is still easy to miss. I had walked past it plenty of times before I knew it was there.

My favorite order is the potato and cheese tacos. They are fried crispy torillas covered and I mean absolutely covered with crema, salsa, queso fresco. You get three for $13, which has become one of my easiest lunches in the West End.

Most of the time, they are great. Occasionally, I want a little more salt, but I carry a personal tin of Maldon salt with me, so I am probably not the person to trust on that.

Most of the time, I go alone, get the tacos, and either eat them on the curb or carry them back to my stoop and sit in the sun while they are still warm.

The other is Little Pig, which is right around the corner from my house. I pass the building all the time, but the window is tucked around the Walker Street side, so unless you already know it is there, you would never think to turn down and look for it.

At this point, I have tried almost everything on the menu. The tofu banh mi is the one that surprised me most, but I also keep going back for the moo ping and the chive cakes, which are chewy in exactly the way I want them to be.

Little Pig is not cheap, but I never leave feeling like I could have gotten the same thing anywhere else.

That is what I like about both places.

They are not destination meals. You do not need a reservation, a special occasion, or even a table. You walk up, order something unusually good, and carry it back into the rest of your day.

Portland has plenty of restaurants that people plan entire weekends around.

These are two places that make a completely normal Tuesday better, provided you know where to find the window.

Find Cantina Calafia

Find Little Pig

Portside Real Estate Group

Thinking of Moving?

🏡 Hi its me Jake! I write The Portland Logbook, but I also help people buy and sell homes in and around Portland.

If a move is on your mind, I’m always happy to help you think it through.

Lets get a coffee!

THIS WEEKS CONDITIONS
☀️ SUNRISE: 5:10 AM
🌅 SUNSET: 8:20 PM
✨ Local Favorites: Weekend Vintage
✨ Local Opening’s: Paolo’s Brunswick
✨ Local Artist of the Week: Chelsea Diehl
❤️ Local Job Listings: Dandelion Farm Field Crew

🐾 Adoptable Buddies of the Week! 🐾

🐶 Polaris – 1 yr
A giant fluffy goofball with an even bigger heart. Polaris loves walks, playtime, and being with his people. If you're looking for a loyal best friend, this sweet guy is ready to shine.

🐶 Kestrel – 1½ yrs
Gentle, affectionate, and famous for giving face kisses. She can be a little shy at first, but with a little patience she'll quickly become your shadow and your biggest fan.

🐱 Ummi – 3 yrs
A beautiful gray and white cat looking for someone willing to earn her trust. She may take her time, but for the right person, giving Ummi a safe place to land could be incredibly rewarding.

If the link doesn’t open anymore, it means they’ve already been adopted!

🐕 Interested? Check them out here