Georgian Home

Brattle-Thurston House // c.1749

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This early Colonial house with unique, rusticated wood coursing carved, treated, and painted to resemble ashlar stone, can be found on Prospect Hill Street in Newport, Rhode Island. This is the Brattle-Thurston House, a circa 1749 Georgian residence of an appropriate gray color, yet when I stopped by in early 2024, had peeling paint. The house was originally part of the Latham Thurston estate, and was later rented or purchased by Robert Brattle (Brattell), who lived here with his wife, children, and an enslaved person according to the 1790 census. The home would later be owned by William Thurston, a hatter and dyer, who likely inherited the residence from his ancestor. Beyond the unique rusticated wood siding, the design features splayed lintels, the main entrance on the side elevation and a later entrance facing the street with segmental pediment above.

Bowler House // c.1760

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This beautiful Georgian house in Newport, with its prominent gambrel roof oriented toward the street, was built by 1760 and owned by Metcalf Bowler (1726-1789), a merchant, politician, and magistrate. Bowler was for many years speaker of the house in the Rhode Island colonial assembly, and it was discovered in the 20th century that he was a paid informant (spy) for the British during the Revolutionary War. The house was owned by Metcalf before he would purchase what is now known as the Vernon House, an even more stately Georgian mansion designed by Peter Harrison. This house was sold, and later owned by Charles Wickham, a Captain in the war, and later to the Burdick and Merrill families.

Shaw-Thurston Double House // c.1760

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This pre-Revolutionary double-house is located at 128-130 Prospect Hill Street in the architectural historian paradise that is Newport, Rhode Island. This property was originally platted and purchased in 1752 by Anthony Shaw. By 1760, local papers advertised the property for sale, giving a built-by date. In 1777, the house was owned by Anthony Shaw Jr. and John Thurston. The property was purchased before the Civil War and went into single-ownership, which has remained to this day. The house, while seemingly a single-family, is preserved lovingly by the owners, who even retained the second front door!

Jeremiah Page House // 1754

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In 1754, a 32-year-old brickmaker Jeremiah Page built this large, gambrel-roofed Georgian house in Danvers, Massachusetts, for his young family. Jeremiah and his first wife, Sarah, raised nine children here and dreamed of liberty from England. Following the Tea Act, passed by British Parliament in 1773 that granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies, Page was said to have demanded that “none shall drink tea in my house.” One evening when her husband was out, Sarah Page is said to have invited several women from the neighborhood up to the porch atop the Page House’s gambrel roof to enjoy tea. Larcom quotes Page as telling her friends, “Upon a house is not within it,” thereby finding a loophole around her husband’s directive. This legend was enshrined in the poem “The Gambrel Roof” (1874) by Lucy Larcom, who knew Sarah Page’s granddaughter. Jeremiah Page would fight in the Revolution, serving as a Captain. The Page House remained in the family for two more generations, Sarah Page’s daughter in-law, Mary Page died in 1876 and her will put the property into a trust with the stipulation that once there were no longer any Page descendants to live there, the historic house was to be torn down. After Mary Page’s daughter Anne Lemist Page died in 1913, the trustee planned to demolish it according to her wishes. The Danvers Historical Society sprung into action and sued to oppose the will, fighting to preserve this significant home. They won, and relocated the home a block from Elm Street to its present site on Page Street, where it stands today. The Danvers Historical Society maintain the structure to this day, including the “porch” at the roof where the tea party once took place.

Nelson House // 1797

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This residence sits on the historic Elm Street in Georgetown, Massachusetts, and is one of the best late-Georgian style dwellings in the town. The house was built in 1797 for Nathaniel Nelson (1767-1853), a banker who worked in Newburyport, just years after his marriage to Sally Chaplin. Nathaniel descended from Thomas Nelson (1615-1648), who was among the twenty families who had come to the New World in the winter of 1638 with the Puritan cleric Ezekiel Rogers (1590-1660). With Rogers most of these families settled at Rowley, incorporated in 1639 with Georgetown later setting off from Rowley, creating their own town in 1838. Nathaniel and many of his family worked as tanners, preparing the skins of animals into leather, and had shops in the area. Mr. Nelson was such an esteemed member of society, that when the War of 1812 broke out, he was asked to store money and gold from Newburyport in his basement, away from the coast, hiding it from the British forces. After successive ownership, the residence was purchased in 1936 by Everett A. and Mary A. Spaulding. A Georgetown native, Everett Augustus Spaulding made colonial revival furniture under the corporate name Spaulding Colonial Reproductions. The residence remains in spectacular condition, with its large central chimney, symmetrical façade, portico, and hipped roof punctuated by pedimented dormers.

Rev. Samuel Foxcroft House // 1765

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Built in 1765 for Rev. Samuel Foxcroft (1734-1807), this grand two and a half story house was the first major frame dwelling in New Gloucester, Maine. Its large scale and such fine mid-18th century architectural features as the triangular doorway pediment  and quoins at the corners make this a house befitting  the community’s first minister. Born in Boston in 1735, Foxcroft was the son of the Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, pastor of the First Church of Boston from 1717 to 1769. The younger Foxcroft graduated from Harvard in 1754 and answered the call of the New Gloucester Congregationalists ten years later, a brand new town in the wilderness of Maine. He was ordained in the blockhouse, a defensive structure from attacking native peoples, in January of 1765 and continued his ministry in the town until 1793, having the first purpose-built meetinghouse completed in 1773. The last years of his life were spent in poor health and he died at his home in 1807 at the age of 72.

Preston-King House // 1764

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The Preston-King House of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, is a 2 1/2-story wood frame Georgian house and unique for its asymmetrical six-bay facade. John Preston I (1739-1803) built this house in 1764. Preston was a doctor, a profession followed by his son of the same name. As well as being the town’s leading physician, he was a member of the first Board of Selectmen and a member of the Convention for framing the State Constitution, also holding many local offices. Following his death, the house passed to his youngest daughter Anna, and her husband, Seth King, a manufacturer, in 1808. The house has been restored to its Colonial appearance and makes a statement without the frills and detailing of the Victorian style.

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.

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!

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.