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Phillips House

In 1821 four intact rooms from an earlier house were transported by ox sled to Salem’s fashionable Chestnut Street to form the core of a new Federal-style mansion being built by Captain Nathaniel West. Nearly a century later, Anna Phillips bought the house and launched a fourteen-month renovation in the Colonial Revival style. Today Phillips […]

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Otis House

Otis House is the last surviving mansion in Bowdoin Square in Boston’s West End neighborhood. Charles Bulfinch designed the house for Harrison Gray Otis, a lawyer who was instrumental in developing nearby Beacon Hill, served in Congress, and was a mayor of Boston. It is the first of three houses Bulfinch designed for Otis and […]

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Merwin House

William and Elizabeth Doane purchased this late Federal-style house in 1875 as their summer retreat. During this period, Stockbridge, in the heart of the Berkshires, became a popular summer destination for New Yorkers like the Doanes. In 1900 they added a Shingle Style wing that wrapped around the back of the house and included a […]

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Lyman Estate

The Lyman Estate, also known as “the Vale,” is a National Historic Landmark and one of the finest U.S. examples of a country estate following eighteenth-century English naturalistic design. In 1793 shipping merchant Theodore Lyman commissioned famed architect Samuel McIntire to design and build a Federal-style house for his family. The family enlarged the house […]

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Rundlet-May House

Merchant James Rundlet and his wife Jane built their home on a terraced rise and filled it with the finest furnishings available. It was both an urban showplace and home for the Rundlets’ large family. Rundlet-May House shows four generations of family possessions, ranging from original 1807 wallcoverings and furniture to twentieth-century additions by the […]

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Barrett House

Barrett House, also known as Forest Hall, was built ca. 1800 by Charles Barrett Sr. for his son Charles Jr. and daughter-in-law Martha Minot on the occasion of their marriage. Its grand scale was encouraged by Martha’s father, who promised to furnish the house in as lavish a manner as Barrett Sr. could build it. […]

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Nickels-Sortwell House

Shipping magnate William Nickels had this impressive mansion built in 1807 as a symbol of his wealth and status. His ships traveled to Europe and the West Indies, bringing back fine imported goods for wealthy Wiscasset households. William and Jane Nickels’ lavish lifestyle came to an abrupt end when Thomas Jefferson’s Embargo of 1807 devastated […]

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Marrett House

In 1796 Daniel Marrett, a recent Harvard graduate, moved to Standish, Maine, to become the town minister. He bought the most imposing house in town to reflect his status as the community’s leading citizen. Three generations of Marretts remained there for nearly 150 years. Marrett House is a classic example of the “big house, little […]

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Castle Tucker

Dramatically sited on a hill overlooking the Sheepscot River, Castle Tucker tells the story of a prominent shipping family’s life on the coast of Maine over a period of 150 years. From 1858 until the end of the twentieth century, both the Tucker family and their imposing house survived economic upheavals, emotional turmoil, and a […]