This First Period Home on in Wayland, Massachusetts, can be found at 184 Glezen Lane and is one of the community’s oldest residences. The Griffin-Malloy Homestead dates to about 1720 and is a large, single-family farmhouse that is just over 300 years old! Records state that the house was built by early settler, Samuel Griffin and possibly expanded later by his son, Deacon Jonathan Griffin. After generations of Griffin Family ownership, the old farmhouse was purchased in 1877 by Timothy Malloy (1839-1909) an Irish immigrant who settled in Wayland and operated a farm here. The house as of the 20th century, retained much of its original wood paneled walls and fireplaces, and has been lovingly preserved by generations of great stewards.
This large First Period house in Wayland dates to the early 18th century and was originally located in Kingston, Massachusetts, and moved to its present location in the 40s. The historic home was built by 1713 for Jonathan Bryant (1677-1731). After 250 years in Kingston, the house was threatened with demolition, and was ultimately saved by Wayland resident, Allan Finlay. Allan was a member of the town’s Planning and School boards, and was active in overseeing the Modern expansion of Wayland’s schools in the 1950s and 60s. In 1941, Finlay had this house disassembled and rebuilt on land on Old Sudbury Road for his family. The house, with its expansive setback, overlooks preserved wetlands.
The Grout-Heard House on Cochituate Road in Wayland, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest extant residences in the community and architecturally significant as it shows the evolution of architectural tastes throughout the centuries. The house was built around 1743 for Jonathan Grout (1701-1748), a grandson of an original settler in the area, by the time of his marriage to Hannah Heard in 1743. Early records suggest that the house was originally just one bay deep and two-stories tall with a central entry. The property was sold in 1744 to Richard Heard, Jonathan’s brother in-law. In 1787, Silas Grout (1755-1820), a blacksmith, purchased the house and likely added rooms on the rear of the house. In 1822, Silas’ descendants added the side ell and the residence became a double-house in the mid-19th century. The house was moved from the site to make room for the 1870s Town Hall, and the rounded two-story side bay was added. After the Town Hall was razed in the 1950s, the Grout-Heard house was moved back to its original site in 1962. Since that date the Grout-Heard House has been the offices, research center, artifact repository and house museum of the Wayland Historical Society, who added a two-story Modern addition at the rear.
The Smith-Curtiss House, which is possibly the oldest extant building in Derby, Connecticut, has sat vacant and decaying for years and is owned by the State of Connecticut. Believed to have been built sometime between 1714 and 1740, this historic saltbox farmhouse at 411 Hawthorne Avenue is slowly decaying due to lack of maintenance and funding. Early ownership is difficult to determine, but by the 19th century, the property was owned by Ms. Alice E. Curtiss. The old estate was sold by Ms. Curtiss in 1913 to Frances Osborne Kellogg, a businesswoman, philanthropist and environmentalist, as part of her 350-acre dairy farm and land-conservation holdings. The Smith-Curtiss House was used as a residence for the herdsmen who ran the farm nearby. Before her death in 1956, Frances deeded the property to the state as a public park, and allowed her head herdsman life-occupancy of this house for the remainder of his life. The State of Connecticut assumed possession of this house in 1981. The building has suffered from deferred maintenance since this period, with the State attempting to lease the building to tenants. I hope that local and statewide preservation groups can mobilize to secure grants and funding to restore this important property.
The Whitcomb Inn and Farm in Bolton, Massachusetts, is believed to be the oldest extant building in the rural community and is believed to have been built around 1708. The oldest portion of the farmhouse, the three-bay, two-story, side-hall house, was likely built when David Whitcomb (1668-1730) acquired the land from his father. David married Mary Hayward in 1700 and the couple had many children, necessitating additions to the old farmhouse, including the rear saltbox with a “Beverly jog” (a section of the rear addition projecting beyond the side of the original structure) that was built in the 1710s. The building underwent stylistic changes in the 19th century, most of which were removed during a major restoration in 1937–38 by Philip Phillips, a Harvard professor in Archaeology, who drew the plans for the restoration of the old house and 1850s barn. Professor Phillips was also a conservationist, and donated some of his land, which directly abuts the highway (built in 1962) was donated to the town and is now known as Split-Rock Trail. The Old Whitcomb Inn and Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, ensuring that any future highway expansion or re-routing would require preservation of this significant home.
The Stephen P. Gardner House on Main Street in Bolton Center, Massachusetts, is a stunning late-Georgian style residence evocative of rural housing built in the decades following the American Revolution. The home was built by 1798 for Stephen Partridge Gardner (1766-1841) upon the occasion of his marriage to Achsah Moore. Stephen Gardner was born in Sherborn but settled in Bolton where he quickly became one of Bolton’s most important residents. He served as Town Clerk for twenty years from 1797 to 1816, as Town Treasurer from 1810 to 1820, and was also an Assessor and a Selectman for many years. Stephen Gardner was chosen to help write the petition from Bolton against the Embargo Act prior to the War of 1812, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Massachusetts militia. In 1873, the house was purchased by the First Parish Church and used as the minister’s residence for about fifty years before being sold to private owners. The now purple house is well-preserved and maintains its traditional pedimented doorway and central chimney.
The town center of Bolton, Massachusetts, as we know it, was largely an early Colonial landholding and farm held by William Sawyer (1679-1741) who possessed roughly 300 acres in the area when Bolton was still a part of Lancaster. The Town of Bolton seceded along the Still River from Lancaster and incorporated in 1738. A year later, an aging William Sawyer gifted two acres of his land for the town’s newly designated burying ground, now the Old South Burying Ground, where his own grave (dated 1741), is the oldest marked burial in the cemetery. In 1780, William’s son, William Sawyer, Jr., sold over sixty-acres of the family farm to his son, Joseph Sawyer (1756-1828) who was to marry Ruth Walcott in 1782. This house was probably built about the time of their marriage. Joseph had previously fought in the Revolutionary War, and marched with the Bolton militia to Lexington on April 19, 1775, and upon his return, he worked as a blacksmith and operated the farm while serving in various town offices.
The oldest residence in the North Village of Lancaster, Massachusetts, the John Bennett House dates to 1717 and evokes the old Colonial days of New England towns. John Bennett settled in Lancaster and built this large First Period house for his family and operated it as a tavern to weary travellers passing through town along the main turnpike. After Bennett’s death, local legend identifies that the property was a stopping place on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves escaping to Canada. This, however, has never been substantiated. From 1872 to 1874, the house was occupied by the first Adventist missionary, John Nevins Andrews, co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The house is well-preserved and remains as one of the oldest in Lancaster and an important landmark of the early days of the community.
Just outside of the village center of Lancaster, Massachusetts, this Georgian style house stands out as one of the town’s finest Colonial residences. The residence was built for John Sprague (1740-1800), who settled in Lancaster and was one of only three lawyers in the county following the departure of his Tory colleagues during the Revolution. Sprague represented Lancaster in the General Court beginning in 1782 and occasionally sat in the Senate. He was first appointed judge in 1784 and in 1798 became chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Worcester County. He was active in Shays’ Rebellion, and later, along with John Hancock and Samuel Adams, was one of the antifederalists who converted and helped ratify the U.S. Constitution. Sprague moved to a new house in 1785, and sold this property to Daniel Waldo (1724-1808), a wealthy Boston merchant who started America’s longest-running hardware store, in Worcester (Elwood Adams). Waldo was a great-great-grandson of Anne Hutchinson, America’s first major female religious leader/dissenter. The house has had many other notable owners, all of whom have preserved this stunning five-bay colonial house for nearly 250 years.
This Georgian house at 403 South Main Street in Providence’s East Side was built by Captain Joseph Tillinghast (1734-1816) a wealthy merchant and participant in the Gaspee Affair, a significant event in the lead-up to the American Revolution. The Gaspee Affair occured in 1772, when a group of men from Providence attacked and burned the British customs schooner, HMS Gaspee. The incident was fueled by colonial resentment towards British customs enforcement, and took place not too long after the Boston Massacre. Joseph built this house for his family on land he inherited from his family, who claimed the land in 1645. Tillinghast was also the owner of a line of packet boats (light shipping of domestic freight and mail) operating between Providence and Newport. After Joseph died in 1816, the property was occupied by members of the Tillinghast family until 1847. By the mid-20th century, urban renewal and the proximity to the new highways caused the surrounding area to suffer, with this historic home threatened. Throughout 2008, the building’s condition continued to rapidly deteriorate, and local preservationists advocated for the home’s future. After attention was brought to the residence and its significance, the house was restored with the assistance of the Providence Revolving Fund, including the stabilization of the foundation, roof and chimneys rebuilt, with clapboards and windows repaired.
The Joshua Wentworth House at 27 Hancock Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a high-style Georgian residence built before the American Revolution, and was almost demolished in the name of “urban renewal.” The house has a side-gable roof with three broken-pediment dormers and a wood paneled door with segmental entablature, pilasters, and a five-light transom. Joshua Wentworth (1742–1809) the namesake of the house, was a grandson of John Wentworth (1671–1730), who had served as an early Lieutenant Governor for the Province of New Hampshire, and was himself, a merchant and State legislator. The house was originally located in the North End of Portsmouth, but in the 1970s, urban renewal and local politicians sought to raze portions of the town to “revitalize” the port town. If only they knew that Portsmouth would be the largest tourist draw in the state just for people to see historic, walkable neighborhoods! Businessman Harry Winebaum acquired the house and sought to preserve it. The solution: move the house by barge to the south side of town near Strawberry Banke. Luckily for us, the house was moved in 1973 and was restored. It is a private residence.
This charming Colonial house is located at 51 Landing Road, overlooking the banks of the Jones River in Kingston, Massachusetts. The house is thought to date to 1760, and by 1800, was likely owned by Stephen Drew a prominent local shipbuilder from a family of shipbuilders who operated a shipyard near the property. In 1810, the property was owned by Joseph Holmes (1772-1863), who also would build a wharf and dock on the riverfront of the property. The property remained in the Holmes Family when it was inherited by Edward Holmes, who worked in shipbuilding until the decay of the industry. The house is a great example of a 18th century residence with a 4×2 bay two-story form, clad with wood clapboards and shingles with a large brick chimney at the roof. In 2018, Jones River Landing, a non-profit, purchased the house and ‘seek to provide seasonal lodging and accommodations for visiting students, interns, scientists and advocates who are studying and working in environmental programs in our region’. While there were plans were to restore the house, the landscaping and peeling siding appear to show some deferred maintenance.
This stately Georgian style house on Main Street in Kingston, Massachusetts, was originally built in nearby Marshfield and later moved to its current location just decades later. The house was built on the Winslow estate in Marshfield in about 1774 by either Dr. Isaac Winslow or his brother, Maj Pelham Winslow. In 1796, the property was purchased by Bildad Washburn, a noted gravestone carver, and the house was moved to its present site. Reports state that the house was moved by boat and oxcart to its current location, where it became a tavern and residence of Mr. Washburn. In 1804, the house was sold to Major George Russell, a merchant and town clerk, who later served in the War of 1812, who converted the ell into a store where he sold, East and West India goods from his ships. After his death, his daughter ran a dame’s school from the house. The Washburn Tavern is significant as a large Georgian-era house that remains in a great state of preservation.
The General John Thomas House at 156 Main Street in Kingston, Massachusetts, is significant as a pre-Revolution Georgian style residence and for its connections with a notable Patriot. General John Thomas (1724-1776) was born in Marshfield and later studied medicine, completing his studies in 1746 at the age of 22. He practiced medicine until being appointed in March 1746, as assistant surgeon by Governor William Shirley in Samuel Waldo’s regiment. Liking military service, in 1747 he traded his post as surgeon for that of a lieutenant. By the time of the French and Indian War he had risen to colonel in the militia. After the war, he married Hannah Thomas in 1761 and either built or moved into this house in Kingston, where he practiced medicine. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, John Thomas was a Brigadier, and briefly resigned from the ranks, disappointed that while four major generals were named, he was not on the list. Congress was then trying to name no more than one major general from each state, and Artemas Ward was given preference. George Washington implored him to remain, and John Thomas returned to service. The Congress resolved that he would be given precedence over all other brigadiers in the army. On the night of March 4, 1776, he led his division to fortify the Dorchester Heights, overlooking the south harbor at Boston, by using cannon that Henry Knox had brought from Fort Ticonderoga. From that position, he threatened the British fleet and the British were forced to withdraw, evacuating Boston on March 17. Thomas was finally named a major general. Soon after, Thomas was assigned to command in Canada and take charge of the Canadian invasion. He joined the army besieging Quebec and remained there until he died of Smallpox in June 1776, not living long enough to see a free America. The John Thomas House is a lasting and important physical vestige of his legacy.
Richard Trevett Jr. (1690-1749) was a wealthy shipwright and sparmaker (a carpenter who finishes and installs spars, masts, and cargo booms) in Marblehead, and part of a wealthy shipowning family. He would build this house on Washington Street (originally named King Street before the Revolution) and reside here with his family. Trevett lived here for just a few years until the death of his father, and he sold the property, which was later purchased by Joseph Pedrick, a wealthy ship owner, who’s son, John Pedrick, built an even larger mansion down the street. By the turn of the 19th century, this house was owned by Captain Samuel Horton, a commander in the Revolution under General John Glover. After the war, Samuel Horton engaged in mercantile pursuits, importing goods from all over the world. He likely brought home pineapples similar to the pineapple motif over the doorway from plantations in the Caribbean and South America as well.
Buildings of New England 