Visit Historic New England's museums and discover life at home from the past to today
Maine
A time capsule of Victorian taste Wiscasset, Maine 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 […]
A prime example of Federal architecture Wiscasset, Maine Nickels-Sortwell House is a National Historic Landmark and one of the region’s finest Federal-style houses. Built by Captain William Nickels, it epitomizes the brief period when shipbuilding and the maritime trade brought wealth and sophisticated tastes to this coastal Maine village. Nickels-Sortwell House is the only Historic […]
Experience a New England classic Standish, Maine 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 […]
Discover an author’s inspiration South Berwick, Maine Writer Sarah Orne Jewett was born in her grandparents’ eighteenth-century house. She lived there with her family until 1854, when they built a Greek Revival house next door. As Sarah gained attention as an author, she and her family lived in the two Portland Street homes in the […]
Romancing the past South Berwick, Maine Shipping merchant Jonathan Hamilton built this striking Georgian mansion and National Historic Landmark c. 1785. Its picturesque situation on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River made it an ideal location for Hamilton’s shipping business and, more than a hundred years later, for the summer retreat of Emily Tyson […]
Expect the unexpected York Harbor, Maine Sayward-Wheeler House overlooks the York River, which was ideal for shipping merchant Jonathan Sayward, who bought the house in 1735. A successful businessman, Sayward was a judge and leading citizen in York. He enjoyed great community respect, although his Loyalist views were in the minority during the years leading […]
New Hampshire
Comfort, convenience, early innovations Portsmouth, New Hampshire 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 […]
Experience grandeur Portsmouth, New Hampshire A National Historic Landmark, Governor John Langdon House is an exceptional Georgian mansion which George Washington “esteemed the first” in Portsmouth. Its reception rooms are of a grand scale suited to ceremonial occasions and are ornamented by elaborate wood carving in the Rococo style. Admission includes both a tour of […]
Visit the oldest house in New Hampshire Portsmouth, New Hampshire A National Historic Landmark, Jackson House is the oldest surviving wood-frame house in New Hampshire. It was built by Richard Jackson, a woodworker, farmer, and mariner. It resembles English post-Medieval prototypes, but is notably American in its extravagant use of wood. Succeeding generations added a […]
An unusual monument to regional history Exeter, New Hampshire In 1709 the Gilman family built a garrison, or fortified structure, near the banks of the Squamscot River, where they owned lucrative sawmills. The interior of this unusual building reveals walls constructed of massive sawn logs and a pulley above the main entrance that was used […]
Country elegance and a romantic story New Ipswich, New Hampshire Barrett House, also known as Forest Hall, was built c. 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 […]
Massachusetts
The center of the community, preserved Amesbury, Massachusetts Rocky Hill Meeting House is one of the best preserved examples of an original eighteenth-century meeting house interior. The fact that it has served no active congregation since the mid-nineteenth century led to its remarkable state of preservation. Eighteenth-century hardware remains intact throughout the building. The marbleized […]
An early eighteenth-century survival Dole-Little House was built c. 1715 with materials salvaged from an earlier structure. Its first owner was Richard Dole, a cattleman, who built a two-room, central-chimney house with a small kitchen shed at the rear. This shed has since been replaced with a larger lean-to. Decorative carpentry and finishes include chamfered […]
Life at home over three centuries Newbury, Massachusetts Coffin House, occupied by the Coffin family over three centuries, reveals insights into domestic life in rural New England. The house, which contains the family furnishings, began as a simple dwelling built in the post-medieval style. Tristram Coffin and his family lived, cooked, and slept in two or […]
The house that started it all Newbury, Massachusetts In 1911 Swett-Ilsley House became the first property acquired by Historic New England, just a year after our founding. The original portion, built in 1670 by Stephen Swett, was one room deep, and later additions more than doubled the size of the house. Over the centuries the […]
A historic site for families Newbury, Massachusetts Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm is a family-friendly National Historic Landmark with activities for all ages. The 230-acre site includes a 1690 manor house that served as the country seat of wealthy Newburyport merchants and an attached farmhouse that was home to a Lithuanian family for most of the twentieth century. […]
A designer’s dream Gloucester, Massachusetts Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, a National Historic Landmark, was the summer home of one of America’s first professional interior designers, Henry Davis Sleeper. Perched on a rock ledge overlooking Gloucester Harbor, Beauport was Sleeper’s retreat, backdrop for entertaining, and professional showcase, and an inspiration to all who visited. After Sleeper’s […]
A museum of American folk art Essex, Massachusetts A mecca for lovers of American folk art, Cogswell’s Grant was the summer home of renowned collectors Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little. The colonial-era farmhouse is a rich backdrop for their celebrated collection, assembled over nearly sixty years. Though known for their research, the Littles decorated […]
Seventeenth-century Salem survives Salem, Massachusetts Salem shipwright Eleazer Gedney built the earliest portion of Gedney House in 1665. Originally the house was asymmetrical, with two rooms on the first floor, a single chamber above, and an attic with a front-facing gable. Significant renovations in 1712 and 1800 resulted in dramatic changes to the house’s appearance. […]
Explore a Chestnut Street mansion Salem, Massachusetts 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 […]
Remarkably intact for over 300 years Saugus, Massachusetts Built in 1692 for the family of William Boardman, a joiner, Boardman House survives remarkably intact from its original construction. With the exception of minor structural stabilization and repairs, the house remains unaltered since the early eighteenth century, providing an exceptional opportunity to view seventeenth- and eighteenth-century […]
The oldest house in Cambridge Cambridge, Massachusetts Cooper-Frost-Austin House is clearly documented as the oldest dwelling standing in the city of Cambridge. The same family owned it for more than 250 years. Built by Samuel Cooper in 1681, the house is one of the earliest examples of an integral lean-to “half house” consisting of a […]
Experience a revolution Lincoln, Massachusetts Walter Gropius, founder of the German design school known as the Bauhaus, was one of the most influential architects of the twentieth century. He designed Gropius House as his family home when he came to teach architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Modest in scale, the house was revolutionary […]
A family country house Lincoln, Massachusetts Overlooking a farm and pleasure grounds, this country seat, also known as “the Grange,” was a powerful force in the lives of five generations of the Codman family. Each generation left its mark, and the estate came to symbolize the family’s fascinating past. Today the house is filled with […]
A grand country estate Waltham, Massachusetts 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 the principles of eighteenth-century English naturalistic design. In the 1700s and 1800s, Waltham was a popular location for country estates. In 1793 shipping merchant […]
Beautiful plants, expert advice Waltham, Massachusetts The Lyman Estate Greenhouses are among the oldest surviving greenhouses in the United States. The complex includes an 1804 grape house, 1820 camellia house, 1930 orchid house, and a 1840s sales greenhouse where you can buy plants to take home. Our expert horticultural staff offers advice and assistance with […]
The first fully documented restoration Watertown, Massachusetts Built between 1694 and 1701 for a farming family, Browne House contains rare surviving architectural features from the late 1600s. In a near ruinous state when it was acquired by Historic New England founder William Sumner Appleton in 1919, the house was painstakingly restored in what is acknowledged […]
Discover where Beacon Hill began Boston, Massachusetts 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 […]
One of Boston’s last 17th c. houses Dorchester, Massachusetts Pierce House is one of the last surviving examples of seventeenth-century architecture in the city of Boston. Lived in by ten generations of one family, the house documents the building practices and tastes of the Pierces over three centuries. Family members expanded and adapted their house […]
A marvel of the Aesthetic Movement Milton, Massachusetts Explore a rare surviving example of late nineteenth-century architecture and design. Designed by renowned Boston architect William Ralph Emerson and built in 1878, the Eustis Estate sits on eighty acres of picturesque landscape at the base of the Blue Hills. Full of stunning, intact architectural and design details, […]
Meet a Revolutionary family Quincy, Massachusetts This country estate overlooking Quincy Bay transports you to the Revolutionary War era and tells the story of a woman’s work to preserve her family’s history more than 100 years later. Revolutionary leader Josiah Quincy built the house in 1770. He and his family played key roles in the […]
A collector’s creation Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts In 1936 Mary Thacher had Winslow Crocker House moved six miles down the Old King’s Highway. Over ten months, the house was taken apart, beam by beam, and reassembled next door to her ancestral home in Yarmouth Port. She remodeled the interior to provide an attractive backdrop to the […]
Experience tranquility in the Berkshires Stockbridge, Massachusetts William and Elizabeth Doane purchased this handsome house in 1875 as their summer retreat. They named it “Tranquility,” as it overlooks a peaceful bend in the Housatonic River. During this period, Stockbridge, in the heart of the Berkshires, became a popular summer destination for New Yorkers like the […]
Connecticut
A colorful summer retreat Woodstock, Connecticut Built in 1846 in the newly fashionable Gothic Revival style, Roseland Cottage was the summer home of Henry and Lucy Bowen and their young family. While the house is instantly recognizable for its pink exterior, Roseland Cottage has an equally colorful interior, featuring elaborate wall coverings, heavily patterned carpets, […]
Rhode Island
One of the oldest houses in Rhode Island Johnston, Rhode Island Clemence-Irons House is both one of the oldest houses in the Ocean State and an important record of twentieth-century restoration methods. Built by Richard Clemence in 1691, it is a rare surviving example of a stone-ender, a once common building type with roots in […]
History along the Great Road Lincoln, Rhode Island Arnold House is a rare surviving example of a stone-ender, a once-common building type featuring a massive chimney end wall. Built by Eleazer Arnold in 1693, the house features stone work that reflects the origins and skills of the settlers who emigrated from the western part of […]
Experience history, explore the land Saunderstown, Rhode Island In the eighteenth century, this property overlooking Narragansett Bay produced food for local and foreign markets. Today, farm managers raise organically grown produce for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. A weekly farmers’ market from May to October offers products from other local farms. Tour the farmyard […]
Explore the rich coastal farmland Jamestown, Rhode Island Before European settlement, Native Americans occupied Conanicut Island, clearing the land and planting crops. The resulting grasslands attracted colonial farmers for pasturing their sheep and cattle. In 1789 Job Watson purchased a piece of this rich farmland, and for the next two centuries five successive generations of […]
Massachusetts
History with a view Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts A waterfront estate established by descendants of Thomas Jefferson, Coolidge Point has been home to the Coolidge family since 1871. The family built the Brick House in 1968 in the neo-Georgian style, modeling it after George Wythe House in Williamsburg, Virginia. A showcase for furnishings evocative of the Colonial […]
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