Captain James Berry House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Captain James Berry House
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 Location in Cape Cod
Location in Massachusetts
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| Location | 37 Main St., Harwich, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1858 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 86001837 |
| Added to NRHP | September 26, 1986 |
The Captain James Berry House is a really old and cool house in Harwich, Massachusetts. It was built way back in 1858! This house is special because it's a great example of Greek Revival architecture, which was a popular style back then. What's even cooler is that the same family has owned it for a very long time. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, which means it's an important historical building. At that time, it belonged to James Osmyn Berry, who was a famous cartoonist and the great-grandson of the first owner!
Contents
What Does the Captain James Berry House Look Like?
The Berry House is found in a village called West Harwich. You can spot it on the south side of Main Street. It sits between Silver Street and Belmont Road.
Design and Style of the House
This house is made of wood and has 1-1/2 stories. It has an interesting L-shape and its outside walls are covered with wooden boards called clapboards. The main part of the house is shaped like a rectangle. It has a pointed roof, known as a gabled roof. The front of the house has three sections, and the main door is on the left side.
Other parts of the house, called "ells," stick out to the left and back. These parts seem to have been built at the same time as the main house. They all look connected because they share similar Greek Revival decorations. There's also a porch on the left side of the main house. It has fancy columns that are shaped like the Doric style from ancient Greece.
Other Buildings on the Property
Behind the house, you'll find an old carriage barn. This barn was also built around the same time as the house. It was used to store carriages, which were like old-fashioned cars pulled by horses.
Who Lived in the Captain James Berry House?
The Captain James Berry House was built in 1858. It's famous for being owned by the Berry family for many, many years. The Berry family has a long history on Cape Cod, going all the way back to 1643!
The Berry Family and the Sea
The house was built for Captain James Berry. He owned several ships that sailed out of Harwich. Later, his brother Henry owned the house. After Henry, his son Osmyn took over. Both Henry and Osmyn were also sea captains, just like James!
Osmyn Berry was a very important captain. He was the first captain to sail a ship through the Cape Cod Canal! This canal made it much easier for ships to travel between different parts of the ocean.
A Cartoonist's Home
By the 1970s, the house belonged to Osmyn's grandson, James Osmyn Berry. He became a well-known cartoonist! It's pretty cool that a house built for sea captains ended up being home to an artist.
