Storm-Damaged Maine Church With Long Bush History To Benefit From Auction of George W. Bush Paintings

A number of Bush weddings have been held in the past century at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunkport, Maine so the tiny sanctuary has a rich history with the family that produced two presidents, two governors and a U.S. senator.

The 134-year-old stone church, located near the Bush family compound at Walker’s Point, this week begins selling artwork created by the second President Bush.

The sale of George W. Bush’s paintings, on display at University of New England in neighboring Biddeford, will help finance repairs to the historic seaside church, damaged nearly three years ago in a coastal storm.

Bush, who began painting after leaving the White House in 2009 following his two terms, grew up in the shadow of St. Ann’s at the family’s summer property known as Walker’s Point.

President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, attended summer services at St. Ann’s for decades, including during his single presidential term.

The Walkers Point estate has served as the summer retreat of the Bush family for over a century, beginning with George Herbert Walker in the early 1900s.

Walker, the first President Bush’s maternal grandfather, bought the property in 1902 when he was just 27 years old.

The pricey compound gained national prominence as the “Summer White House” during the first Bush presidency.

President George H.W. Bush’s parents, Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker, were married at St. Ann’s in 1921.

The eldest Bush later became a U.S. senator.

Dorothy “Doro” Bush, daughter of the first President Bush, married Bill LeBlond in St. Ann’s in 1982, the couple since divorced.

George P. Bush, son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and nephew of the second President Bush, was married in the church in 2004.