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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, T913 



The old Garrison house at Newburyport, Massachusetts, erected before 1650 



The Old Garrison House 



By Mary H. Northend 

 Photographs by the Author 



ERE and there throughout New England, property. In 1651, the dwelling was disposed of to Daniel 

 hidden from view behind the wide-spreading Pierce, in whose family it remained until 1770, when it 

 branches of great trees, or dominating a came into the possession of Nathaniel Tracy, who occupied 

 grassland space at the end of a winding by- it until his death in 1796. The next owner was Captain 

 way, one comes across an old-time homestead Offin Boardman, who lived here nearly twenty years, and 

 that preserves intact its early features, and in the year 18 13 it was sold at auction to one John Pet- 

 stands an expression of past simplicity, most alluring in its tingill, after whose death it came into the possession of his 

 picturesqueness. Such a dwelling is the ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ four daughters. About 1851, Mr. Edward 



Garrison House at Newburyport, Mas- 

 sachusetts, a house that embodies in its con- 

 struction principles radically different from 

 those shown in any other old home, por- 

 traying a type of architecture not found 

 anywhere else. 



It is generally thought to have been 

 erected in the first half of the seventeenth 

 century, but by whom is not definitely 

 known. Some authorities claim that it was 

 constructed by John Spencer the younger, 

 while others contend that it was built by 

 John Spencer the elder. In all probability 

 it was built by the younger Spencer, though 

 it is possible it may have been commenced 

 by Spencer the elder, and finished by the 

 younger Spencer, who succeeded to his 



The stair hall 



H. Little hired the house and farm, and 

 ten years later he purchased it. It is still 

 in the possession of his family. 



In its location, the old dwelling is most 

 fortunate. Broad sweeps of grassland, 

 dotted here and there with beautiful trees, 

 surround it on all sides, and in the distance, 

 stretching as far as the eye can discern is the 

 sea. The estate, of which it is a part, is 

 of large proportions, far removed from the 

 highway, and the approach is along a nar- 

 row lane that diverges from the main road 

 half a mile south of Oldtown church. In 

 appearance the house is wholly unchanged 

 from the date of its erection. Despite its 

 age, it gives no hint of decay, and were it 

 not for the unmistakable signs of antiquity 



