Fairbanks House, Dedham, Massachusetts.
The Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts, is perhaps the oldest frame house in the United States and is an excellent example of the “growing house” of colonial times.
The original portion of the house was built about 1637 or 1638 by Jonathan Fayerbanke, who moved to Dedham from Boston in September 1636. The center portion of the present house is the oldest. As Fayerbanke added to his wealth and land, he added to the size of his home. The original house consisted of a small porch, hall, parlor downstairs, and bed chambers upstairs. A lean-to was later added at the back of the house and, perhaps in 1641, a wing on the east side. Still later, around 1654, the west wing was added. The two wings, which have typical New England gambrel roofs, were undoubtedly completed no later than Fayerbanke’s death in 1668.
From the entry porch in the original portion of the house, stairs lead around the chimney to two second-floor bedrooms. A small porch enters the east wing at the angle where the wing joins the original house. This wing has a parlor, a small bedroom on the lower floor, and a large second-floor room, which is reached by a winding stairway. The west wing, which is entered from the hall of the original house, was probably used as sleeping quarters by laborers on the farm. Some authorities believe that the original house was built with oak timbers brought from England — a custom of emigrants that originated in the need to erect houses quickly for defensive purposes.
Today, the Fairbanks House, which has always been in the possession of the Fairbanks family, is open to the public. It is furnished with family heirlooms. Despite interior alterations occasioned by repairs, plastering, painting, and wallpapering, the antiquity and authenticity of the structure are obvious even to the casual observer. The house is excellently maintained — a labor of love on the part of the Fairbanks descendants, for whom the dwelling is a family shrine. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Fairbanks House
511 East Street
Dedham, Massachusetts 02026
781-326-1170
Compiled by Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated April 2024.
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