Gardner Family

Francis Gardner House // 1903

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This house on Gardner’s Neck Road in Swansea, Massachusetts, was designed in 1903 by Fall River-based architect, Edward I. Marvell, for Francis L. Gardner, a descendant of the Gardners for whom Gardner’s Neck is named. Francis Gardner’s father, Leland, was a successful market gardner who farmed locally with the use of greenhouses, shipping fresh produce and other goods to Fall River and transportation to other nearby cities. This business continued under his sons, Francis and Chester until about 1925, when they began selling land on Gardner’s Neck for development. Francis’ house is an excellent early 20th century residence that blends multiple styles popular at the turn of the 20th century in a square form.

Gardner-Borden House // c.1795

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This elongated farmhouse on Gardner’s Neck in Swansea, Massachusetts, was built at the end of the 18th century for Hanna and Joseph Gardner, who had purchased his brother’s half of the land they inherited by their late father, Peleg. The house was one of a few farmhouses on the peninsula which became known as Gardner’s Neck as much of the land was owned and farmed by members of the Gardner Family. This c.1795 farmhouse began as a five-bay, center-entrance Federal cape house and was expanded in the 1870s by Fall River businessmen, William Almy and Andrew Jackson Borden. Yes, THAT Andrew J. Borden. The farmhouse was expanded to the south (left) with the addition of a second entrance and two bays by the business partners as a summer retreat. The Borden Family with daughter, Lizzie Borden, would spend summers here to escape the hot and polluted industrial city for cool coastal breezes until Andrew and his wife, Abby Borden, were brutally murdered by an ax in their Fall River home.

Abel Gardner House – Wisteria Lodge // 1733

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Another of Nantucket’s old Colonial homes is the Abel Gardner House, which was built in 1733 by its namesake. The saltbox Georgian house was constructed on a large plot of land which was farmed for some time by the Gardner family. Decades later, a portion of the estate was subdivided for the erection of a home for Abel’s grandson, Grindell. The Abel Gardner House was eventually owned by Caleb Gardner and became known as Wisteria Lodge for the climbing wisteria vines up the facade and on arbors. I can only imagine how glorious this colonial would be covered in purple!