Olson House is a 14-room Colonial farmhouse in Cushing, Maine. The house was made famous by its depiction in Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World. The house and its occupants, Christina and Alvaro Olson, were depicted in numerous paintings and sketches by Wyeth from 1939 to 1968. The house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in June 2011. The Farnsworth Art Museum owns the house; it is open to the public.Early historyThe Hathorn-Olson House was built in the late 1700s by Captain Samuel Hathorn II . The house was substantially altered in 1871 by Captain Samuel Hathorn IV . The 1871 alterations included the addition of several bedrooms on the third floor and the construction of a steeply pitched roof. The property was inherited in 1929 from their mother Kathe Hathorn by Christina Olson and Alvaro Olson, descendants of the Captain Hathorn who first built on the site.Association with WyethBetween 1939 and 1968, the house was depicted in paintings and sketches by the American artist Andrew Wyeth, including his 1948 masterpiece, Christina's World. Wyeth was inspired to paint Christina's World by the story of Christina Olson, who had lost the use of her legs to polio. Wyeth befriended the Olsons and maintained a studio in the house. Wyeth later recalled, "I just couldn't stay away from there. I did other pictures while I knew them but I'd always seem to gravitate back to the house." Christina and Alvaro Olson lived at the house until they died in 1968 and 1967, respectively. Christina and Alvaro Olson and Andrew Wyeth are buried in the Olson family cemetery on the property.
