Browne House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Abraham Browne House
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The Abraham Browne House, Watertown, Massachusetts
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| Location | 562 Main St. Watertown, Massachusetts |
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| MPS | First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 90000186 |
| Added to NRHP | March 9, 1990 |
The Abraham Browne House is a really old and special home located in Watertown, Massachusetts, United States. It was built a long, long time ago, between 1694 and 1701, when America was still a group of colonies ruled by England. Today, this historic house is a museum run by an organization called Historic New England. You can visit it a couple of times a year to see what life was like centuries ago!
Contents
A Glimpse into the Past
When it was first built, the Abraham Browne House was quite simple. It was a "one-over-one" dwelling, which means it had just one room on the ground floor and one room upstairs. The house has a very steep roof and windows that open like doors, called casement windows.
Life in the 17th Century
The main room on the ground floor was used for everything! Families would live, cook, and even sleep in this one large space. Imagine everyone sharing the same room for all their daily activities!
Discovering Old Secrets
In 1919, when people were working to fix up the house, they found some amazing clues about how it looked in the 1600s. These discoveries helped them understand the original design and how people lived back then.
Saving a Piece of History
By 1919, the Abraham Browne House was almost falling apart. Luckily, a man named William Sumner Appleton bought it. He was very interested in saving old buildings. In 1923, he gave the house to Historic New England, an organization dedicated to preserving historic places.
How the House Grew
Over the years, the house got bigger with new parts added on. But these additions were mostly built behind the original part of the house. This was important because it kept the special "one-over-one" look of the front of the house. One addition from the 1800s was removed before 1919 to restore the house to its earlier appearance.
A Rare Survivor
The Abraham Browne House is very unique! It's one of only a few houses in all of New England that still has its original "one-over-one" shape visible from the front. This makes it a very important example of early American homes.
On Television
The Abraham Browne House even appeared on the popular PBS television show This Old House. This show helps people learn about fixing up and restoring old homes, and the Abraham Browne House was a perfect example of a historic restoration project.
See also
- List of historic houses in Massachusetts
- List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
