Jethro Coffin House facts for kids
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Oldest House
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U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Contributing Property |
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Jethro Coffin House
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Sunset Hill Road, Nantucket, Massachusetts |
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| Area | 0.75 acres (0.30 ha) |
| Built | 1686 |
| Architectural style | Early English Settler |
| Part of | Nantucket Historic District (ID66000772) |
| NRHP reference No. | 68000019 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 24, 1968 |
| Designated NHL | November 24, 1968 |
| Designated NHLDCP | November 13, 1966 |
The Oldest House on Sunset Hill, also known as the Jethro Coffin House, was built in 1686. It is thought to be the oldest home on Nantucket, Massachusetts that is still in its original spot. When it was built, there were only a few hundred English settlers on the island. The native Wampanoag people outnumbered them by a lot.
This special house was a wedding gift for Jethro Coffin (born 1663) and Mary Gardner (born 1670). It shows how two of the island's oldest families came together. Jethro was the grandson of Tristram Coffin, one of the island's first owners. Mary was the daughter of John Gardner. He was a leader in a conflict called the Half-Share Revolt. This was when tradesmen on the island stood up against the richer landowners. Even though the Gardner and Coffin families often disagreed, Mary and Jethro's marriage helped heal old arguments. The house was built on Gardner land using Coffin wood. It was a real symbol of their new unity.
By the late 1800s, the house was empty and falling apart. But a Coffin family reunion in 1881 brought new interest to the property. The Nantucket Historical Association bought the house in 1923. Four years later, a group called the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now Historic New England) started a big project. They wanted to fix the house to look like it did long ago. The Oldest House became a National Historic Landmark in 1968. In 1987, lightning hit the house. This caused a lot of damage to the roof and chimney. Today, the house is a reminder of the first English settlers on the island. It shows visitors what daily life was like on Nantucket in the 1600s. It is now a historic house museum run by the Nantucket Historical Association. It is also part of the Nantucket Historic District, which is a special historic area.
Contents
Exploring the Oldest House
The Oldest House is a great place to learn about early American life. It has been carefully preserved to show how people lived centuries ago.
The Kitchen Garden
People have worked hard to make the area around the Oldest House look like it did in the past. The kitchen garden is behind the house. It is a copy of a herb and vegetable garden from around 1700. This garden is kept without modern fertilizers or bug sprays. Plants grow in raised beds, which was common back then. You can find common vegetables like carrots, onions, and cabbages. There are also about thirty kinds of herbs. These herbs were used for cooking, medicine, or around the house.
A Look Inside the House
Mary lived in the house for about twenty years. We don't know the exact date the house was built. But people believe it was a wedding gift for Mary and Jethro in 1686. Mary was sixteen, and Jethro was twenty-three.
The house looked different in the 1600s. It was very impressive for its time. It had two stories on the front, facing south. The back roof was long and sloped, like a "catslide" roof. This might have been part of the original design. Huge fireplaces were important in each room. There was a parlor on the west side and a great room on the east. The kitchen was in the back, under the low roof. Two bedrooms were on the second floor, with an attic above. The house likely had two gables on the front. These would have let light into the upstairs rooms. From the hill, the Coffins could see for miles.
Life After the Coffins
Mary and Jethro sold their Nantucket home to Nathaniel Paddack in 1708. They moved to Mendon, Massachusetts, because Jethro inherited land there.
Even though the Oldest House is linked to Mary and Jethro Coffin, four generations of the Paddack family lived there. Many Paddacks were sailors. This shows how Nantucket changed from a farming community to a sea-based one in the 1700s. In 1839, George Paddack sold the house to a barrel maker named George Turner for $300. This ended 131 years of Paddack family ownership.
By 1867, George and Mary Turner had moved out. The old wedding house of Jethro and Mary Coffin was then used as a hay barn.
Saving the Oldest House
In 1881, two Coffin family members from off-island bought the house from the Turner family for $300. Repairs were made, and the house opened in 1886 for its 200th anniversary. It then stayed quiet until 1897. After that, it opened in the summers as a house museum. Many curious visitors came to see this old piece of the island's history.
The Nantucket Historical Association bought the house from Tristram Coffin in 1923. Winthrop Coffin, another descendant of the first Tristram, paid for the house's restoration. His chosen architect, Alfred F. Shurrocks, started work in 1927. Shurrocks thought the house originally had two front gables. But they decided to restore it to its more familiar look. They replaced 1700s double-hung windows with diamond-paned ones. They felt these looked more like a 1600s home.
The Jethro Coffin house was named a National Historic Landmark in 1968. On October 1, 1987, lightning struck the house. The chimney fell, half the roof was destroyed, and the electrical wires melted. It took two years and about a million dollars to fix the damage. The house was built so strongly that it still stands firm on Sunset Hill. It continues to share the story of Nantucket's early English settlement in the 1600s.
Images for kids
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Nantucket County, Massachusetts
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
- List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
- Coffin (whaling family)
