Georgian

Thorndike-Conway House // 1769

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This homestead is one of the earliest homes in the Camden–Rockport area of Maine. Originally built inland from the harbors, the house was a one room cabin with an open sleeping loft above. Allegedly built in 1769 by Robert Thorndike (1734-1834) one of the earliest settlers of Rockport the house has served as a significant piece of the town’s history ever since. There were two additions to the house in 1806 and 1826. The first addition in 1806 consisted of the front door entry and the front parlor, a birthing room and a chamber and loft above. The 1826 addition in the back of the home provided a kitchen area that was later divided to provide a small parlor. In 1826, Frederic Conway bought the property from Robert Thorndike Jr., which remained in the family until 1916. The property is now owned by the Camden-Rockport Historical Society as a house museum and the organization is further documenting the history of this house and the two towns.

Mixer Tavern // 1710

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Photo from real estate listing.

One of the most historic houses in Ashford, Connecticut was listed for sale! The house at 14 Westford Road dates to 1710, when John Mixer purchased the property which at the time totaled 100 acres, and applied for a license to operate a tavern. John Mixer was born in 1668 in Watertown, Massachusetts and married Abigail Fiske in 1695. Mixer worked as a tanner in Watertown before moving to Connecticut, becoming the first settler of Ashford in 1710. Mixer became Ashford’s first Town Clerk, Treasurer, Tavern Keeper, Select Man, and Deacon. Mixer and his family would eventually move to Suffield, Connecticut, but the old tavern remains in impeccable condition, largely due to its later owners and preservation as an inn and restoration in the 1920s.

Stebbins-Tremko House // 1773

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Ashford, Connecticut is located in a part of Windham County at the northeast part of the state which is sometimes referred to as the Quiet Corner, due to its limited access to larger cities and more bucolic scenery. Formerly known as New Scituate, Ashford was settled in 1710 and incorporated as a town in October of 1714. One of the town’s early houses is this cape style dwelling, built around 1773 for Thomas Stebbins (1748-1826). By the 20th century, the small house was owned by George Tremko (1907-1981) who worked as the town’s postmaster for some years in the post office just nextdoor. After Tremko’s death, the town acquired the property through eminent domain, with the hopes of redeveloping the prominent site for a new library. Luckily, the local historical society advocated for its preservation, and grants were acquired, which helped to restore the 1770s house.

Gott House // 1702

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Halibut Point State Park in Rockport is one of the most enchanting places in Massachusetts and it has so many layers of history! Before white settlement, Halibut Point was used seasonally by the Pawtucket people who came to harvest its wild fruits, fish and game on the land. In 1702, Samuel Gott (1677-1748) purchased eight of the 6-acre lots on Halibut Point. At the time, there were no roads to Halibut Point, but Samuel built this house on the land, and he began to farm here. The property passed down the family line and was later owned by Joshua (1754-1846), who came of age just as the War for Independence began. Joshua enlisted with the Revolutionary Army as it was being formed in Boston, and in 1776, he joined General Washington’s forces in the unsuccessful defense of New York. He returned home to lead a long and useful life as farmer and fisherman and was known as Captain Gott. As of the 2010s, the property remained in the same family, handed down through the generations from Samuel Gott over 320 years to today. How cool!

Rotch Counting House // c.1775

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Members of the Rotch family dominated Nantucket business and politics across three generations. The rise of this family was linked to the rise of the island as a whaling center. The well-connected family owned two of the three ships involved in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. According to the Nantucket Historical Association, this warehouse and counting house building was in fact, built in 1775, not 1772, as erroneously stated on the wood plaque mounted on the outside of the building, for William Rotch, one of the pre-eminent figures in Nantucket’s whaling industry. The handsome brick building served as the Rotch Counting House. William Rotch subsequently moved his business to New Bedford. In 1861, the building was purchased by a group of former whaling masters who formed the organization known as the Pacific Club, and the building has been known by its eponymous name and is still owned by the members of the Pacific Club, who are invited into membership on a referral basis and are responsible for its maintenance.

Coleman House // c.1750

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In 1802, a young sea captain, Laban Coleman purchased this house on Orange Street on Nantucket within a year of his marriage to Jane Carman. Historians estimate the date of construction of the house to be from sometime between 1729 and 1750, but it could date closer to the time that Coleman purchased the house from a joiner, Elisha Raymond, who possibly built the house. I particularly love the simple door with transom above and the narrow, second-story stairhall window. What do you like the most about this Nantucket home?

Captain Silas Jones House // c.1774

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Brick houses are not too common on Nantucket, so I love to highlight them whenever possible! This gambrel-roofed residence was built by 1774 for Silas Jones, a whaling captain around the time of his marriage to Judith Gardner. As originally built, this house had brick endwalls while the facade and rear walls were constructed of wood. It was not until under the ownership of Silas’ son, Daniel, that the house was “modernized” with its present appearance. Daniel added brick walls to the front and rear walls, added brownstone lintels and sills to the openings, and added twin chimneys, likely replacing a single, central chimney. Due to his materiality and heavy presence, the house looks more like it belongs in Salem or Providence, so seeing it in the coastal town of Nantucket makes my heart sing. Standing out is a good thing!

Andrew Myrick House // 1755

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Nantucket is an old house lovers dream. A large part of the reason for this is that much of the island was designated as a local historic district in 1955, making it one of the earliest historic districts in the United States! This means that since 1955, the Nantucket Historic District Commission has been overseeing the island’s preservation, demolitions and alterations to historic buildings. This is the Andrew Myrick House located on Orange Street. The Georgian dwelling was built in 1755 by Andrew Myrick (1704-1777), a shipbuilder and storekeeper who was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts and eventually settled on island, constructing this home for his family. He and his wife Jedidiah had over 16 children, some of which died in childhood. Myrick would eventually hang himself at the age of 71. The home remained in the family until 1827. Fun fact: Andrew’s grandson, Peter Myrick was said to have set sail from Nantucket in 1833 in search of sea serpents. He came back empty handed.

Joshua Coffin House // 1756

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Nantucket in the off season is just as magical as the peak of summer. Quiet streets, gray shingled buildings, and the smell of the ocean is the perfect medicine! This is the historic Joshua Coffin House on the island of Nantucket. The house is one of the best examples of a mid-18th century sea captain’s residence on the island and it is in a great state of preservation. The dwelling was built in 1756 for newlyweds Joshua Coffin and Beulah Gardner on land given to them by Beulah’s father as a wedding present. The couple raised their children here until Joshua died at sea in a hurricane while on a whaling trip in the West Indies. The house remained in the family since at least 1971 and has been lovingly maintained by its stewards.

Wellman-Fisher-Richardson House // c.1745

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The Fisher-Richardson House in Mansfield, Massachusetts is considered to be one of the oldest buildings in the suburban town. The home dates to sometime between 1743 and 1751 and was built for its original owner Ebenezer Wellman (1720-1776). The property was eventually owned by Lemuel Fisher, who in about 1800, doubled the size of the house adding its western half. When Lemuel died in 1820, the property was inherited by his youngest son, Daniel, a farmer and blacksmith who also built a gristmill nearby. The home was later inherited by Daniel’s daughter, Evelina and her husband, Captain Ira Richardson. By 1930, the gambrel-roofed Georgian house was in disrepair, and the owner at the time contacted SPNEA (now Historic New England) who drafted an agreement to acquire and restore the house. However, as local interest in the property increased, the owner deeded the property to the town, and the town took on the costs of restoration. The property is now managed by the Mansfield Historical Society.

Benedict House // c.1740

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The Benedict House in Ridgefield, Connecticut is a stunning Colonial-era cottage that was once the home of a cobbler, who had his shop on the property. The Benedict family, headed by James Benedict, Sr., were original proprietor settlers of Ridgefield. This house and shop have been attributed to James’ son James Benedict (1685-1762), who owned the land and was a shoemaker and deacon of the Congregational Church. Ensign Benedict was also a fence viewer, a term new to me. Fence viewers had power to make and enforce rulings regarding escaped or trespassing livestock, the location of fences, and, above all, maintenance of fences. With fences so crucial to keeping livestock where it belonged, loose boards and rotting posts were big concerns. The fence viewer could even compel a property owner to pay for needed maintenance or repair conducted by a neighbor if he or she failed to keep up their fence properly. The property left Benedict family ownership in 1848, and it was later extensively restored by renowned architect Cass Gilbert, who bought the property in 1920. Cass Gilbert also restored a few other Colonial-era houses in town. It was later the home of Robert and Mildred Wohlforth, both writers of note and six-decade residents of Ridgefield.

David Scott House // 1714

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One of the oldest extant houses in Ridgefield, Connecticut is this charmer, which was moved not once, but twice! The house was built for David Scott (1678-1760), an Irish-born resident of the town, who purchased one of the town’s original Main Street house lots which sat undeveloped. Scott had abandoned his wife, Mary in Ireland, and settled in Ridgefield, entering into a new relationship with Elizabeth St. John. A woman scorned, Mary unexpectedly arrived in America and filed suit against her husband, citing Elizabeth as the “pretended wife of David Scott.” A judge awarded Mary three acres of her husband’s land. David Scott and his second wife lived at this 1714 house until they moved in 1740. His property (which included two enslaved Africans) was sold to Vivus Dauchy, a Frenchman. In the 1920s, as the Scott House section of Main Street commercialized, the owners relocated this house to Catoonah Street, building a commercial block in the former location. After numerous other owners, the most recent owner, The Ridgefield Preservation Trust (now the Ridgefield Historical Society) put it to use as a new historical society headquarters, after saving the Colonial-era home from demolition for stores and a parking lot! It was relocated to its current site and has been meticulously restored.

Alna Meetinghouse // 1789

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The Alna Meetinghouse in Alna, Maine was built in 1789, and incorporated in 1796 as a Congregational church. The 40′ by 52′ foot building is one of the finest examples of a traditional New England meetinghouse in the state of Maine and Regular church services were held here until 1876. In recent years the building has been used for Town Meetings. Unlike many of the other meetinghouses of this period, the Alna meetinghouse has only one door. This door leads into a vestibule that contains the stairway to the gallery. The original box pews are still in place, as is the original pulpit with a sounding board hung from the ceiling. The building remains well-preserved and sits right on the side of the road!

John Banister House // 1751

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This deep, gambrel-roofed house is among my favorites in Newport. The house was built in 1751 for John Banister (1707-1767), a Boston-born merchant who moved to Newport in 1736, marrying Hermoine Pelham (1718-1765), a granddaughter of Gov. Benedict Arnold, that next year. Banister quickly established himself as a leading Newport merchant, trading with England, the West Indies, engaging in privateering and the slave trade. In 1752, he held one of the last public slave auctions in Rhode Island at his store, describing them in advertisements as “the finest cargo of slaves ever brought into New England”. The couple also built a country estate in Middletown, Rhode Island. John and Hermione had two sons, John and Thomas, who grew up in this home. John inherited the house after his father’s death in 1767, but the two brothers would soon find themselves on opposite sides of the battle for independence. Thomas was a loyalist, and even enlisted in the British army during the occupation of Newport, while John supported American independence. In retaliation for his patriot views, the occupying British forces seized this house, along with John’s farm in nearby Middletown. The house became the headquarters of General Richard Prescott during the occupation, although John later reclaimed his property following the British evacuation of Newport in 1779. The house has a later Federal entry, but otherwise is one of the best-preserved Colonial homes in Newport. It is a single-family home.

Harkness House // c.1730

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The award for the cutest house in Newport goes to this c.1730 beauty on Green Street! This charming Georgian cape house sits just one-and-a-half stories tall under a squat gambrel roof. The house was originally located at the corner of Thames Street and was moved at least twice until it was placed on its present site by the Newport Restoration Foundation, after they acquired it in 1983, restoring it soon after. The center-hall house has just two rooms on each floor with a central staircase and chimney. The small dormers add some light to the second floor without compromising the historic and architectural integrity of the cottage.