Boardman House (Saugus, Massachusetts) facts for kids
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Boardman House
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The Boardman House, Saugus, Massachusetts
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | 17 Howard Street, Saugus, Massachusetts |
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| Area | 0.75-acre (0.30 ha) |
| Built | 1692 |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000131 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | November 5, 1961 |
The Boardman House, also known as the Scotch-Boardman House, is a very old and special house in Saugus, Massachusetts. It was built way back in 1692! This house is super important because it still has so much of its original building parts. Because of this, it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1961. A group called Historic New England has owned it since 1914. You can even visit it on some weekends between June and October!
Contents
Discovering the Boardman House's Story
The land where the Boardman House stands was bought by William Boardman in 1686. There was a different house there at first. For a long time, people thought this house was built soon after 1686. But scientists used a cool method called dendrochronology to study the wood beams. This method looks at tree rings to find out when the wood was cut. They found out the house was actually built in 1692.
How the House Looked Long Ago
When it was first built, the Boardman House had two rooms on each floor. It had a big chimney in the middle. On the ground floor, there was a main room called a hall and a smaller room called a parlor. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms, with an attic above them.
By 1696, a special addition was built at the back. This was a lean-to for the kitchen and a milkroom. This made the house look like a saltbox house, which has a long, sloping roof at the back. This lean-to was rebuilt in 1731, using some of the old wood. The house has five fireplaces in total. Each of the original rooms has one, and the kitchen has another.
Changes Over Time
Even though the house's main shape hasn't changed much, some things did get updated. The original windows, which had small panes of leaded glass, were replaced with more modern sash windows. These are the kind that slide up and down. Also, two decorative parts on the front roof were removed. Around 1725, a new staircase was added inside the house.
Saving a Piece of History
The Boardman family owned this house from when it was built until 1911. Then, it was sold to someone who wanted to build new things there. People worried about saving this important old house. So, a person named William Sumner Appleton stepped in. He bought the house in 1914 for a group called the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. Today, this group is known as Historic New England.
The society worked hard to make the house look like it did in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They removed wallpaper and other things that had been added in the 1800s.
Because it's so special, the Boardman House was officially named a National Historic Landmark in 1961. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
See also
- John Boardman House in Boxford, built by William Boardman's grandson
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts
- List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
- List of historic houses in Massachusetts
- Saugus Iron Works
