Chapter VIII: Part III (6)

Sometime after 1800 the house was enlarged and converted into a central hall type by a major three-bay wide extension to the west of the side hall, which became the central hall. The gable roof of the original building was extended over the new portion, which was also equipped with an interior chimney. About 1903 a single dormer was added to the extension. The two first-floor rooms in the addition, which lacks a cellar, are about two steps lower than the two in the original structure. The second floor of the present house contains four bedrooms. A one-story porch, probably not original, extends across the front, or south, side. Its Doric columns rest on square pedestals and are linked by a light balustrade. About 1903 a one-story kitchen was added to the rear northwest corner of the house.

Many interior features are intact, but the plaster walls are covered with paper. The southwest room, or library, located in the 1800 addition and restored in 1969, contains an excellent late Georgian mantel and overmantel. The building has been roofed with modern material.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution acquired the residence in 1900, and the following year opened it to visitors. In 1960 the National Society presented it to the State Society. It is currently operated as a historic house museum by the Augusta Chapter. A caretaker’s residence is located on the grounds.

Tabby Cottage, Georgia ⊗

_Location: Liberty County, on St. Catherines Island, which is
located about 10 miles off the Georgia coast southeast of Midway
between St. Catherines and Sapelo Sounds._

The original portion of this structure, today an eight-bedroom house and the main building on St. Catherines Island, may have been built by Button Gwinnett in 1765 when he purchased the island, on which he resided until his death in 1777 at Savannah. In 1929 the owner of the island extensively remodeled the gable-roofed building. He retained its basic shape and preserved many of its features, including mantels, stair rail, and wide-board, hand-pegged floors. To the rear at a right angle on one side he added a 1½-story wing, also with gable roof, which more than doubled the floor space. The original, or front, section of the house, also 1½ stories in height, was constructed of “tabby,” a mixture of lime, ground from burned oyster shells, with sand, shells, and water. The wing is of frame with a stucco finish. Both parts of the residence are now roofed with Ludowici tile and feature dormers, interior chimneys, and shuttered exterior windows.

Other tabby structures on the island include seven guest cottages and about a dozen slave quarters, all probably dating from the early 19th century. Many of them are in ruins but some are in good condition. Elsewhere are four present employee residences, as well as several barns and maintenance buildings. Boundaries of old cotton and tobacco fields are discernible, as well as dozens of Indian burial mounds. Of special interest, between Persimmon Point and Wamassee Head, is the undisturbed site of the Mission of Santa Catalina (1566-ca. 1684), a Spanish mission. None of the buildings remain, but potsherds and other surface debris are plentiful.

When this volume went to press, the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings was making a further study of Tabby Cottage to determine the exact degree of its authenticity in relation to Gwinnett. Privately owned St. Catherines Island, not accessible to the public, has already been accorded National Historic Landmark status because of its associations with Spanish exploration and settlement.

Whipple Birthplace, Maine ⊗

_Location: York County, 88 Whipple Street, Kittery._

William Whipple, a signer from New Hampshire, was a native of Kittery, now in Maine but then in Massachusetts. Born in this house in 1730, he probably lived in it until, like many boys of the locality, he went to sea. About 1760 he abandoned his life as a seaman and took up residence in Portsmouth, N.H.

This handsome frame residence, the only one extant associated with a signer in Maine, occupies a picturesque setting on a small cove along the Piscataqua River. The two-story building has been considerably altered and enlarged over the years, but it is in excellent condition and rests on original foundations. It has been painted red since at least 1873.

In its present form the house is Georgian in style with a central hall plan. The exterior walls are clapboarded. On the east, or front, elevation a round arch window on the second story sits over a pedimented center door. The ell at the rear is a 20th-century addition. A slight overhang on the south end of the house indicates that it may once have been a garrison house, and that the upper story projected over the first. This portion of the house was constructed of hemlock, square-dovetailed at the corners. At some later date, the structure was enlarged, and in the mid-19th century the exterior was completely renovated.

The residence originally featured a center chimney floor plan. In the 19th century the central chimney was removed and a center hall with stairway added, as well as two small interior chimneys with fireplaces, one at each side of the hall. On the first floor, to the south of the hall, is the bedroom where Whipple was born; to the north, a large parlor. The original kitchen is located to the rear, or west, of the center hall and parlor.

Privately occupied, the house is not open to the public.

Carroll Mansion, Maryland

_Location: Anne Arundel County, Duke of Gloucester Street, between
Newman and St. Marys Streets, Annapolis._

Charles Carroll III of Carrollton was born in 1737 at this townhouse, which his father had probably built about 1735. Around the age of 11, young Carroll traveled to Europe for an education and did not return to Maryland until 1765. Thereafter, he lived mainly at Doughoregan Manor but utilized his birthplace, which he inherited from his father, when in Annapolis. In 1804, when he retired from public life, he closed it up. In 1870 one of his granddaughters deeded the house and property to the Redemptionist Fathers of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which had been built in 1858–60 on adjacent lands also donated by the Carrolls.

Carroll Mansion, a brick rectangular structure constructed in Flemish bond, rises 2½ stories over a basement. Belt courses mark the first- and second-floor levels on the north and south sides. Segmental arches head the windows. Two massive chimneys penetrate the slate-covered gable roof. They are located at what may have been the original gable ends. Five gabled dormers protrude from the south side of the roof; four from the north. A wood cornice with dentils and modillions extends along the sides and up the gables at the ends.

Exterior alterations include the addition of a one-story basement at the east, or present rear, end of the residence and a one-story porch and entrance at the west end. The front entrance, probably dating from the early or mid-19th century, is highlighted by a rectangular transom and sidelights. The original entrance was apparently located in the center of the north side of the house, where a passageway, erected in 1858, now connects it to St. Mary’s Church.

Interior alterations have practically obliterated the original floor plan. A stair hall occupies a central compartment at the north side, and the stairs appear to be original. Only two major rooms retain some of their original finish. A large one on the south side of the first floor, now used as a chapel, has walls paneled in plaster and a plaster cornice. Another, at the east end, features a plaster cornice, a ceiling divided by triple panels, and a wooden mantelpiece.

The building, in fair condition, is used as a residence by the Redemptionist Fathers and is not accessible to the public. It is part of Colonial Annapolis Historic District.

Carrollton Manor, Maryland ⊗

_Location: Frederick County, on the south side of Manor Wood Road,
immediately east of the East Alco Aluminum Company Plant, just west
of Buckeystown._

In 1765 Charles Carroll, returning to Maryland after completing his extensive education in Europe, built this home near the mouth of the Monocacy River along Tuscarora Creek on a 10,000-acre tract of land he had acquired from his father. Young Carroll never spent much time at Carrollton Manor. Shortly after he had constructed it, his father died, and he preferred to spend his time at Doughoregan Manor, the ancestral family home in Howard County.

The rectangular manor is constructed of native limestone. It rises 2½ stories above an elevated basement. A pair of chimneys are located at the west end of the gable roof, and a single chimney at the east end. A later one-story addition extends from the east end. The central door, sheltered by a one-story porch on the north, is topped by a rectangular transom and flanked by sidelights, both probably dating from the Greek Revival period. Dating from the same time are the two triple windows in the first story at the rear of the house. A one-story porch that once extended across that elevation has been removed.

The house contains four rooms on each floor. East of the front entrance is a stair hall and a spacious dining room; to the west, a library and living room. Large double doors connect the living and dining rooms. The second floor contains four bedrooms; the attic, four more.

Upon Carroll’s death, his descendants inherited the manor. In 1968 an aluminum company bought the property and erected a large office and plant buildings and a spur railroad track to the west of the house. In excellent condition, though never restored, it is today used as a company residence and is not open to visitors. A nearby chapel, erected by Carroll, is still used as a parish church.

Chase-Lloyd House, Maryland ∆

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 22 Maryland Avenue, Annapolis._

Although Samuel Chase began building this house in 1769 while he was a young lawyer, he never resided in it, for he sold it unfinished in 1771 to Edward Lloyd IV, a wealthy Maryland planter and politician. Lloyd immediately engaged architect William Buckland, newly arrived in Annapolis, to continue construction, completed 3 years later with the aid of local architect William Noke.

The structure, one of the first three-story Georgian townhouses erected in the American Colonies, ranks among the finest of its type in the United States and is one of the major attractions in Colonial Annapolis Historic District. The house rises three full stories over a high basement. Two massive interior chimneys protrude through the broad, low, hip-on-hip roof. The brick walls are laid in Flemish bond and adorned by belt courses of rubbed brick at the second- and third-floor levels. An enriched cornice embellishes the roofline. At the front, or east, facade the axial line features a tall, projecting central pavilion and entranceway, an arched window on the third floor, and crowning pediment with a small bull’s-eye window.

Of particular note is the entranceway, in essentially a Palladian motif. The three-section composition was rarely used in Georgian houses before the Revolution. The door is topped by a fanlight and flanked by two panels of sidelights. The three openings are framed by two engaged Ionic columns and two Ionic pilasters which support an entablature that becomes an open pediment over the door. The triple windows on the second floor over the entrance door and the arched windows in the center of the three on the third are also unusual.

The sides of the house lack architectural distinction, but in the rear a large Palladian window within a brick arch ornaments and lights the interior stair landing. The only exterior alterations are a three-story wooden screened porch and adjoining steel fire escape on the south side of the structure near the west corner.

The floor plan is typical of the center hall type of house, with four rooms on each floor, except that lateral halls divide the front and rear rooms. The unusually large center hall is dominated by a magnificent stairway and a pair of free-standing Ionic columns bearing a full entablature. A parlor, large dining room, sitting room, and breakfast room are located on the first floor, which has been only slightly altered. A small back stairway is adjacent to the breakfast room. Ornamentation of the plaster ceilings and doorways is outstanding. The dining room, the most elaborate room, contains an imported Italian mantelpiece that is richly decorated. The second floor is also exquisitely ornamented.

The Lloyd family owned the house until 1847, when Chase’s descendants acquired it. In 1888 one of them bequeathed it to the Protestant Episcopal Church for use as a home for elderly women. It is in excellent condition and is well maintained. The first floor is open to visitors and contains some items that belonged to the Lloyds or to the later Chase owners. The upper two floors are utilized for the ladies’ home.

Deshon-Caton-Carroll House, Maryland ⊗

_Location: 800 East Lombard Street, Baltimore._

This was the winter home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton during his twilight years and the site of his death in 1832. Christopher Deshon, a Baltimore merchant, built it in 1811–12, and in 1818 sold it to Richard Caton, husband of Carroll’s youngest daughter, Mary. Carroll spent the winters there with the couple until his demise. The rest of the time, he resided at Doughoregan Manor in Howard County.

The Deshon-Caton-Carroll House, a good example of Classic Revival architecture, is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond. It stands 3½ stories high. Six pedimented dormers—three each at the south (front) and north elevations—as well as a central chimney and two end chimneys pierce the low gable roof. A belt course at the second-floor line and dentil cornice at roof level, both of sandstone, extend across the north and south elevations. Recessed rectangular panels of wood are inserted between the second- and third-story windows of the south and west elevations. A large semicircular window is located in the west gable of the attic story. The wide-paneled center door at the main entrance to the house is sheltered by an Ionic marble portico surmounted by an iron railing.

The central hall plan provides for four large rooms, two on each side of the hallway on each of the first three floors. The front entrance opens into a stair hall, in which an elegant spiral stairway rises in an open well up through the three stories. A counting room for business purposes, family dining room, breakfast room, and study occupy the first floor. The second floor, once used primarily for recreation and formal entertainment, contains a large parlor, formal dining room, music room, and library. Bedrooms occupy the third floor, and the attic at one time contained slave quarters.

The house remained in the Caton family until 1856. During the last quarter of that century, a furniture store occupied the first floor, and the owner divided the upper floors into apartments. In 1914 the city of Baltimore acquired the building, and 3 years later put it to use as the “Carroll Vocational School.” From about 1930 until 1956 the structure served as a recreation center. Subsequently the house faced the threat of demolition, prevented by the efforts of the Charles Carroll American Heritage Association, Inc. In 1963 the mayor of Baltimore decided that the residence should be preserved. Upon completion of restoration and renovation, in 1967, it was placed under the Municipal Museum, a nonprofit corporation. This organization operates it today for the city as a historic house museum.

Doughoregan Manor, Maryland ∆

_Location: Howard County, on the west side of Manor Lane, about 1
mile south of Md. 144 and 8 miles west of Ellicott City._

Charles Carroll III of Carrollton preferred this manor, the ancestral family home, over his other residences. He lived in it for most of the period 1766–1832 rather than at Carrollton Manor or his Annapolis townhouse. In 1717 Charles Carroll I had acquired the 10,000 acres that originally comprised the estate. His son Charles II probably built the main section of the mansion about a decade later. In the 1760’s Charles III inherited it. In the 1830’s, after his death in 1832, it was greatly enlarged. It is still owned and occupied by the Carroll family.

Much changed over the years, Doughoregan Manor is now an architecturally distinguished complex of buildings united into one long structure, about 300 feet in extent. The original manor was a Georgian, 1½-story, brick structure with gambrel roof and two pairs of end chimneys. A kitchen-servants’ quarters and a chapel, both probably one-story and constructed of brick about 1780, stood detached from the house, on the south and north respectively.

In the 1830’s Charles Carroll V undertook a comprehensive expansion in the Greek Revival style that converted the manor to its present five-part composition. He raised the main house to two stories and cut off the gable roof to form a flat deck, which was balustraded and surmounted by an octagonal cupola. At the front (east) center door he added a one-story portico with four Doric columns. To the rear of the residence, he attached another portico, over which he erected a room. Along both sides of the rear portico, he constructed a covered, one-story veranda with iron columns that extended the length of the main house. The heights of the kitchen-servants’ quarters and the chapel were raised and they were connected to the main house by two-story wings, topped by unifying wooden walkways.

Inside the central part of the mansion, an oak-paneled central hall extends from front to rear. The principal stairway is located in a small side hall adjacent to the front of the main hall. On one side of the main hall in the 1727 portion of the house are library and large parlor; on the other, small parlor and dining room. The second-floor bedrooms, remodeled in the 1830’s, were completely renovated and redecorated about 1915. The chapel, refurbished in the 1830’s and again after the Civil War, is in good condition and is still used as a parish church. It is one of the few surviving private chapels in the United States dating from the 18th century. The grave of Charles Carroll III is located next to the altar.

The estate, comprising 2,800 acres, and mansion are well maintained. They are not open to the public.

Habre-de-Venture, Maryland ∆

_Location: Charles County, on the west side of Rose Hill Road,
which connects Md. 6 and Md. 225, about 1 mile north of Port
Tobacco._

In 1771 Thomas Stone built this plantation house near the busy riverport town of Port Tobacco, Md. He lived in it during his most politically active years, and on his death in 1787 was buried in the adjacent family graveyard.

A Georgian structure of brick and frame, Habre-de-Venture consists of five parts: a central house connected to two wings by two covered passageways, or “hyphens.” The hyphens and wings extend southward to form a semicircle. The main building is a 1½-story structure over an elevated basement. It has a dormered gambrel roof flanked by external end chimneys. The brick walls are laid in Flemish bond with glazed headers. Center doors and full-length, one-story porches are located at the front and rear of the house.

A center hall, with stairs set against its west wall, divides the central unit into dining and living rooms. In 1928 the Baltimore Museum of Art removed the elaborate hand-carved paneling in the living room; it was subsequently replaced with a replica. The fireplace wall in the dining room protrudes out into the room, and the flue curves back to the wall and up to the ceiling.

To the west of the central house is the kitchen wing, a low, two-story, gable-roofed structure with brick ends and frame sides. Its second story, added about 1820, contains two bedrooms. The connecting hyphen, originally gabled roof and one story in height and containing a breakfast room, was increased to 1½ stories by the addition of a gambrel roof with dormers to provide bathrooms for the second floor of the main house. The east wing, a gambrel-roofed, low, 1½-story frame structure that has one room on each floor, served as Stone’s law office. A one-story gabled brick hyphen connects it to the main house.

Except for the alterations mentioned above, Habre-de-Venture has changed but slightly through the years. In excellent condition and carefully restored, it now serves as a private residence and is not shown publicly.

Paca House, Maryland ∆

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 186 Prince George Street,
Annapolis._

William Paca, a young, newly married lawyer, built this townhouse in the years 1763–65 as his principal residence and occupied it until 1780. At that time, a few months after the death of his second wife, he sold the house and moved to Wye Plantation, a country estate in Queen Annes County he had acquired about 1760.

The Paca House is a large, five-part Georgian structure, today part of Colonial Annapolis Historic District. Two brick wings (kitchen and office) sit at right angles to the main axis of the central house, to which they are connected by brick passageways, or hyphens. The central unit is a gable-roofed brick structure of 2½ stories over an elevated basement. The front facade is laid in all-header bond, and the ends in Flemish bond. The window arches, of rubbed brick, are flat. A small, one-story frame porch, which is pedimented and done in modified Roman Doric style, provides access to the central entrance.

Large brick chimneys rise from both ends of the central house, and smaller ones from the wings. Three gabled dormers are situated in the front of the main roof and two in the rear. The 1½-story wings are also gable-roofed. The west wing and both of the hyphens had been raised to two stories in the 19th century, but were recently lowered to their original height.

On each side of the center hall in the main house are two rooms. The interior has been greatly altered over the years, and portions of the original wood and plaster finish remain only in the center hall, the stair hall behind it, and the parlor. The main stairway is equipped with the original Chinese Chippendale balustrade.

In 1899 the Paca House became the Carvel Hall Hotel, enlarged in 1906 by rear additions that completely hid the back of the original house. In 1964, when the structure faced demolition, Historic Annapolis, Inc., purchased the Paca House portion. The next year, the State of Maryland acquired the entire property. In 1967–69 it razed the 1906 hotel additions and restored the gardens. Presently, the Maryland Historical Trust, a public agency, holds title to the house, but Historic Annapolis, Inc., retains all the responsibilities and rights of ownership and administration. When this volume went to press, the residence was undergoing an extensive restoration program and was not accessible to the public. Historic Annapolis, Inc., plans to utilize it as a guesthouse for visiting dignitaries, though the first floor will be open to visitors.

Peggy Stewart House, Maryland

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 207 Hanover Street, Annapolis._

Thomas Stone purchased this Georgian residence in 1783 and until his death 4 years later occupied it while in Annapolis, though he maintained his home at Habre-de-Venture in Charles County. The Peggy Stewart House was built sometime between 1761 and 1764 by Thomas Rutland. Its owner in the period 1772–79 was Anthony Stewart, an Annapolis merchant. In 1774 Revolutionaries forced him to burn his ship, the _Peggy Stewart_, when he attempted to land a cargo of tea on which he had paid taxes. Five years later, he fled to England.

Over the years, the rectangular brick house has been substantially modified on both the exterior and interior. Its 2½ stories rest on an elevated basement. At the time of a major alteration in 1894, the gable roof was replaced by the present hip roof, which has a cutoff deck and balustrade, and the chimneys were rebuilt in their current form. Two gabled dormers are located at the front of the roof and one at each side. Highlighting the ends of the house are central pavilions, which have triangular pediments with round center windows. The chimneys cut through the front corners of the pediments. A wooden box cornice with frieze board below extends around the eaves. A large wing at the rear is a later addition.

The front facade of the house is comprised of all-header bond and the sides of English bond. The basement and first-story windows are topped by segmental arches, but the second-story windows have flat ones. The sills are of stone, and louvered shutters flank the first- and second-floor windows. The front entranceway, sheltered by a small wooden porch with a triangular broken pediment, has a paneled door that is surmounted by a rectangular glazed transom.

In 1837 the house had 12 rooms, eight of which were equipped with fireplaces. The original portion of the house, excluding the rear addition, has a center hall floor plan. The stairs are set against the east wall, beyond which is a large living room. A parlor and dining room are situated to the west of the hall. Five bedrooms are located upstairs. The interior of the house has been extensively remodeled in recent times. Only one fireplace, in the southeast front room on the second floor, retains its original mantel.

The Peggy Stewart House, also known as the Rutland-Peggy Stewart House and the Rutland-Stewart-Stone House, is privately owned and is not open to the public. It is part of Colonial Annapolis Historic District.

Adams (John) Birthplace, Massachusetts ∆

_Location: Norfolk County, 133 Franklin Street, Quincy._

This was the original homestead of the Adams family and the birthplace of John Adams. Although not architecturally impressive, it is historically notable as the place where John Adams grew to manhood. It is adjacent to the John Quincy Adams Birthplace.

The original house, a typical New England saltbox structure of frame construction with a massive central chimney, was probably built about 1681. It consisted of two lower and two upper rooms. Extensive alterations were made over the years. The rear lean-to, built at some unknown date in the 18th century, added two downstairs rooms and two small upper ones, separated by a large attic.

In 1720 John Adams’ father, “Deacon” John Adams, purchased the house, where in 1735 young John was born. He lived there until his marriage in 1764. He and his bride moved into a residence next door that he had inherited from his father in 1761 and 6 years later was to be the birthplace of his son John Quincy. In 1774 John bought his birthplace home from his brother. His public duties and legal business kept him away most of the time. By 1783, when he and his family were in Europe, tenants resided in both the John Adams Birthplace and the John Quincy Adams Birthplace. In 1788, when John Adams sailed home, he settled at “Peacefield,” or the “Old House,” now Adams National Historic Site, in another part of Quincy. In 1803 he sold both birthplaces to his son John Quincy.

The John Adams Birthplace remained in the possession of the Adams family until 1940, when they deeded it to the city of Quincy. In 1896 they had given the Adams Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, permission to restore the residence, which the next year was made accessible to the public. When the Adams Chapter dissolved in 1950, the Quincy Historical Society took over the administration. In excellent condition and still owned by the city, the house is open to the public.

Adams (John Quincy) Birthplace, Massachusetts ∆

_Location: Norfolk County, 141 Franklin Street, Quincy._

This frame structure was John Adams’ residence and law office during the War for Independence and the birthplace of his son John Quincy. In 1744 “Deacon” John Adams had acquired the residence, the oldest part of which may date from 1663. In 1761 he bequeathed it to young John. At the time of the latter’s marriage 3 years later, he moved into it from his neighboring birthplace so that he could better accommodate his library and set up a law office. In 1767 John Quincy was born in the house.

Shortly thereafter, John’s growing law practice and role in public affairs made it convenient for him to live in Boston most of the time, but his wife and son remained in the Quincy home until after the War for Independence. By 1783, when the family was in Europe, tenants were occupying it. After coming back to the United States in 1788, John Adams took up residence at “Peacefield,” or the “Old House,” now Adams National Historic Site. In 1803 John Quincy purchased both birthplaces from his father, and from 1805 to 1807 lived in his own birthplace.

The John Quincy Adams Birthplace is well preserved. Like the John Adams Birthplace, it is of typical New England saltbox design, originally comprised of two upper and two lower rooms arranged around a huge central chimney, and has been extensively altered. John Adams added a lean-to of two rooms at the back for use as a new kitchen during the time he used the original kitchen as a law office-library.

In 1897 the Quincy Historical Society, aided by Adams heirs, restored and opened the John Quincy Adams Birthplace to the public. In 1940 the Adams family turned it over to the city of Quincy. Administered by the Quincy Historical Society, it is accessible to the public.

Adams National Historic Site, Massachusetts ☑

_Location: Norfolk County, bounded by Adams Street, Furnace Brook
Parkway, and Newport Avenue, Quincy; address: 135 Adams Street,
Quincy, Mass. 02169._

Featuring the Adams Mansion, this site is a memorial to four generations of the distinguished Adams family, who resided in it from 1788 until 1927.

John Adams (1735–1826), signer of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, the first Vice President, and the second President, founded a long line of men who were outstanding in politics and intellectual life. John Quincy (1767–1848), his son, won fame as a diplomat, U.S. Congressman, Secretary of State, and sixth President. Charles Francis Adams (1807–86), son of John Quincy, became a U.S. Congressman, diplomat, and author. His four sons—John Quincy II (1833–94), Charles Francis, Jr. (1835–1915), Henry (1838–1918), and Brooks (1848–1927)—made notable marks in politics, literature, and historiography.

The Adams Mansion, named “Peacefield” by John Adams but known to some as the Vassall-Adams House and later to the Adams family as the “Old House,” was dear and close to all of them. In 1730–31 Maj. Leonard Vassall, a wealthy West Indian sugar planter who had come to Massachusetts some 8 years before, built the oldest part of the building. Comprising the front western section of the present residence, it was a 2½-story frame structure of Georgian design with clapboarded walls and gambrel roof. The first floor contained two rooms separated by a central stair hall; the second floor, two bedrooms and center hall; and the dormered attic, three smaller chambers. The kitchen and servants’ quarters were detached.

John Adams, while still Minister to Great Britain, bought the house in September 1787 from Vassall’s grandson, Leonard Vassall Borland, and on his return the next year took possession. At that time, he apparently attached the 2½-story kitchen and servants’ quarters to the rear, or northwest, corner of the main structure. In 1800, near the end of his Presidency, he doubled the size of the residence by adding a large, 2½-story, L-shaped wing of frame at the east end. It was constructed in the same Georgian style as the original house and contained on the first floor a second entry hall and staircase and the “Long Room” to the east of the hall. Adams’ large study-library was located on the second floor.

Other additions were made in the 19th century. In 1836 John Quincy Adams built the passage along the back, or north, side of the structure connecting the two rear service ells. In 1869 Charles Francis added 30 feet to the kitchen ell for additional servants’ quarters; the following year, a detached stone library overlooking the garden; and in 1873, the stone stable. Brooks constructed the present entrance gates in 1906.

After retiring from the Presidency in 1801, John Adams lived in the house year round until his death in 1826. Subsequently, until Brooks’ death in 1927, other family members resided in it full time or spent their summers there. The furnishings, to which each generation contributed, reveal the continuity of life in the residence and the tastes of the Adams family.

In 1946 the Adams Memorial Society donated the property to the Federal Government. Consisting of almost 5 acres, it includes the well-maintained house, library, garden, and stables. It may be visited from spring until the fall.

Elmwood, Massachusetts ∆

_Location: Middlesex County, 33 Elmwood Street, Cambridge._

This impressive 18th-century mansion, also known as the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, was the residence of three men prominent in American history: Andrew Oliver, royal Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts (1771–74); Elbridge Gerry, politician, diplomat, Governor of the Commonwealth, signer of the Declaration, U.S. Representative, and Vice President; and James Russell Lowell, author, poet, teacher, and statesman.

In 1767 Andrew Oliver, while serving as royal secretary of Massachusetts, erected the building. An ex-stamp tax collector and a firm Tory, he aroused the hatred of the Whigs, who on at least one occasion attacked his home. He died in 1774 while serving as royal Lieutenant Governor. Some time during the War for Independence, Oliver’s estate including the mansion, was confiscated.

In 1787 Elbridge Gerry, who the previous year had retired from business in Marblehead, Mass., moved to Cambridge and purchased the estate. He lived there for the rest of his long career in public service. In March 1813 he took the oath of office as Vice President in his home. Because of heavy debts, on his death in Washington, D.C., in 1814, his Cambridge residence remained his sole real estate holding.

The mansion was also the birthplace and lifelong home of James Russell Lowell (1819–91), one of the most distinguished men of letters of his era, as well as a prominent U.S. diplomat. Except during the period 1877–85, when he served as Minister to Spain and Great Britain, he lived at his birthplace, which he named “Elmwood.”

Elmwood is a large, square, clapboarded-frame structure in Georgian style with brick-lined walls and two interior chimneys. The first- and second-story windows are topped by cornices. Above the foreshortened third-story windows, typical in three-story Georgian houses, runs a boldly modillioned cornice. A balustrade encloses the low-pitched hip roof. The most striking exterior feature, however, is the entranceway, which is flanked by Tuscan pilasters supporting a classic entablature decorated with a frieze. A large window rests on the entablature parapet motif and is flanked by Ionic pilasters and topped by a triangular pediment.

A one-story porch with balustraded roof deck on the north side of the house, as well as a terrace on the south side, are later additions. Located in the rear, at the northwest corner, is a two-story service wing; in the rear, at the southwest corner, a one-story wing. Both of them are of frame construction. All three floors in the main section are bisected into two rooms on either side by a central hall. Portions of the interior have been altered and modernized.

Donated to Harvard University in 1962 and now used as the presidential residence, Elmwood is not open to the public. The house and grounds are in fine condition.

Gerry Birthplace, Massachusetts ⊗

_Location: Essex County, 44 Washington Street, Marblehead._

Elbridge Gerry was born in this framehouse and resided in it until 1787, when he moved to Cambridge, Mass. His father, Thomas, had built it about 1730, and it remained in possession of the Gerry family until 1820.

Architectural evidence strongly suggests that the L-shaped building was originally a two-story Georgian structure. About 1820 the two stories were apparently raised and a third one built underneath. Since that time, changes have been slight. The original interior finish of the first story is entirely 19th century, and the original paneling on the walls of the second story is clearly 18th century.

Today, the exterior is clapboarded. The long arm of the ell faces north toward the street. A central hall divides the first floor of the long arm into two rooms, the east and west parlors, both with 19th century mantels, fireplaces, and flanking arched alcoves. The west parlor opens into the short arm of the ell, which extends southward to the rear and contains the dining room. Attached to the rear of the short arm is a small rear service wing containing an L-shaped, one-story kitchen. A one-story open veranda runs around the east and south elevations of the long side of the ell, and a small porch flanks the dining room on its west side. The second story contains three bedrooms, all displaying the original 18th-century paneling on the fireplace walls. The third floor consists of four bedrooms.

The house and grounds, privately owned and not open to the public, are well maintained.

Hancock-Clarke House, Massachusetts ∆

_Location: Middlesex County, 35 Hancock Street, Lexington._

The only extant residence associated with John Hancock, this was his boyhood home. In 1744, upon the death of his father at Quincy, the 7-year-old boy came to live at this house with his grandfather, Rev. John Hancock. In 1750 the lad joined his childless uncle, Thomas Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant who adopted him.

By the time of the Revolution, Rev. Jonas Clarke, a relative by marriage of the Hancocks, occupied the house, which had been built as a parsonage by Rev. John Hancock. Clarke encouraged Revolutionaries to use his home as a meetingplace and refuge. On the evening of April 18, 1775, patriot leaders Hancock and Samuel Adams were visiting there. Around midnight, after everyone had gone to bed, Paul Revere and later William Dawes, warning the countryside of the approach of British troops, galloped up and informed the household. A few hours later, Hancock and Adams fled northward to Burlington, Mass. They later moved from place to place, staying away from Boston, until they proceeded to Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress, which convened the next month.

The Hancock-Clarke House consists of two frame sections, erected by Rev. John Hancock at different times. The original one, built in 1698, presently forms the small rear ell, 1½ stories high with gambrel roof. A living room-kitchen and tiny study are located downstairs and two low-studded chambers upstairs. The 2½-story front, or main, section of the house dates from 1734 and was financed by Thomas Hancock for his father. It has a large central chimney and contains a short center hall and two rooms on each of the two floors.

In 1896, when the building faced demolition, the Lexington Historical Society acquired it and moved it from across the street to its present location. In 1902 the society constructed a rear brick addition containing a fireproof vault to protect its more valuable possessions. Restored to its 18th-century appearance and well maintained, the Hancock-Clarke House is open to the public and serves as headquarters of the society. Recently the society purchased the original site of the house, where foundations are visible.

Bartlett House, New Hampshire ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, on the west side of N.H. 111,
opposite the town hall, Kingston._

This is the only extant structure closely associated with Josiah Bartlett. He built it in 1774, after fire consumed his earlier home on the same site, and lived in it until his death in 1795.

The rectangular frame residence is clapboarded and two stories in height. Two interior chimneys pierce the gabled roof. Exterior louvered shutters border the windows. Many of the house’s existing features date from the second third of the 19th century, when it was remodeled in the Greek Revival style. They include the giant corner pilasters; cornices over the first-story windows; the center door with cornice, sidelights, and pilasters; and the one-story porch across the south end of the structure. Another addition, at the southwest corner, was the two-story frame ell, which gave the building its present L-shape. This ell contains a summer kitchen and workroom on the first floor and four bedrooms on the second.

Center halls bisect the rooms on both stories of the main house into pairs. The downstairs hall is divided into two sections, each containing a stairway set against the north wall. To the south of the hall on the first floor are the living room and the dining room, originally the kitchen. These rooms are equipped with the original chimneys and fireplaces. North of the hall is a parlor and behind it a bedroom. Around 1860 the chimney for these rooms and the fireplace in the parlor were rebuilt, and two closets that flanked the parlor fireplace were converted into the existing arched alcoves. The second floor contains four bedrooms, two on each side of the central hall. The original wide floorboards are still in place throughout the residence.

The house, in excellent condition, is still in the possession of Bartlett descendants and is not open to the public. It has never been restored, but is furnished with some original Bartlett pieces, including a medical table and instruments.

Moffatt-Ladd House, New Hampshire ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, 154 Market Street, Portsmouth._

An outstanding example of a late Georgian mansion, this impressive three-story structure was the longtime residence of William Whipple. Ship carpenters constructed it in 1763 for John Moffatt, a sea captain and wealthy merchant. He presented it the following year as a wedding gift to his son, Samuel, a merchant-shipowner. In 1768, after the latter had failed in business and fled to the West Indies to escape creditors, Captain Moffatt reacquired it and lived in it for the rest of his life. Whipple and his wife, Catherine, Moffatt’s daughter, moved into the house the same year as the captain. Whipple resided there until his death in 1785; his wife and apparently his father-in-law, too, survived him.

The square, clapboarded building stands on a slight elevation overlooking old Portsmouth Harbor. Noteworthy features of the elaborate exterior include white corner quoins and richly pedimented first- and second-floor windows. The third-story windows, smaller in size, abut the distinctive cornice. Side windows, like those on the third-floor front, lack pediments. Rear windows on the first two stories have flat arches with lengthened keystones. The hip roof, flanked by three end chimneys, is cut off to form a flat deck, or captain’s walk, which is enclosed by an attractive balustrade with urn finials. A delicate fence with large ornamental posts, also topped by urn finials, spans the front of the house, which is approached by a flight of granite steps that lead up to the portico-covered entranceway. Near the front northeast comer of the residence is the countinghouse, or office (1810), a small, square building with a hip roof.

The interior of the house is as highly embellished as the exterior. The outstanding room on the first floor is the unusually spacious entrance hall, one of the finest in New England. Its carved cornice is handsome, and the walls are covered with rare imported French wallpaper of the early 19th century. The beautiful and finely carved flight of stairs is lighted by a roundheaded window in the side wall above the landing. Except for the simple detail in the drawing room, that in other first-floor rooms—dining room and pantry—is rich. Four bedrooms are located on the second floor, and five additional chambers on the third. Three of the second-floor bedrooms have richly carved overmantels.

The carefully restored house and grounds were owned by the Ladd family, descendants of the Moffatts through marriage, until 1969. From 1913 until 1969, they leased the house to the Colonial Dames of America, which maintained it for public display. In 1969 the Colonial Dames acquired full title to the property. The first two floors of the house are furnished in period pieces, and the third floor is not open.

Thornton House, New Hampshire ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, 2 Thornton Street, Derry Village._

Matthew Thornton lived in this residence, which has since been considerably altered, during his medical and most of his political career. He probably acquired it in 1740, the year he moved from Worcester, Mass., to present Derry Village (then a part of Londonderry) to set up his medical practice. He resided in it until about 1780, when he retired as a doctor and moved to a farm near Merrimack, N.H.

The gable roof of the two-story frame structure, of the saltbox type, slopes steeply to the rear, or north, and forms a one-story lean-to. Two interior chimneys sit behind the ridge of the roof. The exterior, remodeled in the Greek Revival style probably in the mid-19th century, features giant pilasters on the front corners and a one-story portico over the center door. The clapboarding is a replacement of the original. All windows, including those in the gable ends, have exterior louvered shutters, and flat cornices surmount those on the first floor. A one-story frame service ell, extending from the northwest corner and giving the house its present L-shape, contains the modernized kitchen and what were once workrooms for servants.

Inside the house, a center hall bisects the rooms into two pairs and is divided into two sections, each with its own stairway on the east wall. To the east of the hall are the living room and modern laundry room; to the west, dining room and present family room. The two chimneys, built between the pairs of rooms to provide four fireplaces, one for each room, were rebuilt on a smaller scale in the early 19th century for use with Franklin stoves. Thus none of the original fireplaces and mantels exist any longer, but a 19th-century mantel remains in the dining room. The opposite fireplace in the family room, however, is modern. Features dating from the 18th century include the framing and wide floorboards, visible in all rooms except the family room where they are covered. The second floor contains three bedrooms.

The Thornton House, in fair condition, is used as a private residence and is not open to the public. Its present owner hopes to restore it.

Hopkinson House, New Jersey ∆

_Location: Burlington County, 101 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown._

Owned by the Hopkinson family for several generations, this house was the residence of signer Francis Hopkinson from 1774 until his death in 1791. It was built in 1750 by merchant John Imlay (Emley), who used part of it as a store. Sometime before 1768 Joseph Borden, a prominent New Jersey citizen, acquired it. Hopkinson married his daughter at Philadelphia in 1768, and, after a tour as customs collector at New Castle, Del. (1772–74), moved to Bordentown and took up residence with his father-in-law.

Upon Hopkinson’s death, his eldest son, Joseph (1770–1842), inherited the house. He achieved fame as composer, lawyer, judge, and politician. Among his distinguished guests were Irish poet Thomas Moore, Thomas Paine, and Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother. The Hopkinson family retained possession of the property until 1915; since then, it has been owned by the Wells family.

The Hopkinson House is an L-shaped, brick and frame structure with a gambrel, dormered roof. The main 2½-story section is constructed of brick. The center door is topped by a rectangular transom, flanked by sidelights, and sheltered by a segmental hood. A central hall, divided into two sections by means of a wide folding door with an arched fanlight above, bisects the first floor into two large rooms, living room and library. Both of these are currently used by the Bordentown Chamber of Commerce as an office and museum, open to the public. The front portion of the central hall serves as an entrance hall; the rear section, as the stair hall. A narrow hall extends from the stair hall south across the rear of the main house. The second and third floors, each containing four bedrooms, are used as apartments.

A two-story brick wing extends to the rear from the northeast corner of the main section. Its first-floor dining room and the two bedrooms comprising the second floor form an apartment unit. Attached to this wing at the rear of the brick arm is a two-story frame wing that once contained the kitchen and servant’s bedroom.

The exterior of the house, except for the metal roof, appears to be little altered. Interior features are plastered walls, wide floorboards, and 19th-century mantels. Much of the original woodwork and trim has apparently been replaced, but the basic floor plan has not been greatly changed. The residence is in good condition.

Maybury Hill, New Jersey ∆

_Location: Mercer County, 346 Snowden Lane, Princeton._

Maybury Hill, built about 1725, was the birthplace and boyhood home of North Carolina signer Joseph Hewes. His father leased it from 1730 until 1755.

The house provides a fine example of Georgian architecture. It was originally a small, two-story stone structure with gable roof. A short distance away, at the northeast corner, stood a detached kitchen building. In 1735, following a fire, the main house was rebuilt. In 1753 a major addition was made on the north side connecting it with the kitchen building. This resulted in an L-shaped, two-story structure with gabled roof and three end chimneys. The only alteration of consequence since that time occurred about 1900, when the fieldstone exterior walls were covered with concrete.

Flat brick arches top the windows. Second-story windows have exterior louvered shutters; those on the first, paneled shutters. Today the house has a center hall floor plan. To the south of the hall is the large parlor, which dates from 1725. To the north are the dining and living rooms, added in 1753. Both of them have paneled walls, shell cabinets, and exposed ceiling beams. The kitchen, dating from 1725, is still in the northeast corner of the building. The dining room fireplace is faced with tile. Four bedrooms occupy the upstairs. All the floors are constructed of wide boards.

Little-altered Maybury Hill was renovated in 1920, and is still in excellent condition. A private residence, it is not open to visitors.

Morven, New Jersey ∆

_Location: Mercer County, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton._

Morven was the birthplace and lifelong home of Richard Stockton (1730–81). In the summer of 1783 it was also the official residence of his brother-in-law Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress, which was then meeting in Princeton. That same year, many Revolutionary leaders gathered at the mansion to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the War for Independence.

Between 1701 and 1709 Stockton’s grandfather, also named Richard, built the earliest section of Morven. It grew in a series of stages until about 1775, when its exterior appearance approximated that of today. Because fires in 1776, set by the British during the War for Independence, and 1821 necessitated extensive repairs, the interior dates from the late 18th or early 19th century.

A large Georgian mansion of brick, Morven consists of three sections: a main central, two-story section over a raised basement and two lower, attached, two-story wings. The facade of the main section, although basically early Georgian in style, was altered in the 19th century by the addition of a wide, one-story, Greek Revival porch. A central hall divides the section into a large dining room and the Gold Room. Fireplace walls in these rooms are fully paneled. The central hall intersects a stair hall, which runs across the rear of the main portion of the house and connects with the two wings. On the first floor of the east wing are two large family rooms, the Red Room and library. This wing was partially burned by the British. The west service wing includes the kitchen. The only recent change, in 1945–54, was the addition of a solarium, or Green Room, at the rear of the main section; a one-story porch was enclosed to form the new room.

Morven remained in possession of the Stockton family until 1945, when Gov. and Mrs. Walter E. Edge acquired it. Nine years later, they donated it to the State of New Jersey. Since that time, it has been the official residence of the Governor. It is not accessible to the public.

President’s House, New Jersey ∆

_Location: Mercer County, on Nassau Street just northwest of Nassau
Hall, on the Princeton University campus, Princeton._

From 1756 until 1879 this house was the official residence of the president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University after 1896). In 1768, when John Witherspoon emigrated from Scotland to America to assume the presidency, he occupied it. While living there, he represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration. In 1779 he moved to his nearby farm, Tusculum. From then until 1794 his son-in-law Samuel S. Smith, vice president of the college, resided in the President’s House. From 1879 until 1968 it was the home of the Dean of the Faculty and was known as the “Dean’s House.” Since 1968, it has been called the Maclean House and has been used by the Princeton Alumni Council.