Historic New England: Boardman House

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A black, white, and blue striped header image with the words Historic New England: Boardman House

Last September, I visited Boardman House in Saugus, MA, a study house museum owned and operated by Historic New England since 1911, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1966. Like other 17th century buildings maintained as study homes, Boardman House had minimal furniture. The excellent guide allowed to stand in the fireplaces and explore the attic and basement.

Boardman House; A three-story, post-Medieval style, brown clapboard saltbox house near a busy road. The standard Historic New England signs are on the front of the property.

Location of Boardman House

Located north of Boston in Essex National Heritage Area, the town of Saugus was first settled by European colonists in 1629 and incorporated by 1815. The town served as an early industrial center and fishing port and is now home to several history-focused attractions.

Saugus, MA in the 17th Century

Boardman House is located in the same town as Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, marketed as the “Birthplace of the American Iron and Steel Industry”. On this site, the National Park Service has restored working mills, water wheels, and forges to demonstrate how early European colonists smelted iron. The mill and surrounding land was owned by William Paine from Suffolk, England. In mid December of 1650, Scottish prisoners of war who had lost the Battle of Dunbar to the English were brought against their will to work in Paine’s mill. By the 1680s, after the mill closed down, Paine’s grandson Samuel Appleton Jr. took control of the large house on the property, which now serves as the visitor center.

Standard Historic New England black-and-blue sign with the HNE logo in the bottom right corner. The white, serif text reads Boardman House 1692 Back view of Boardman House Border Marker for Essex County; a stone cube embedded in the ground with the initials EC carved on top. Window at Boardman House; an 18th century style window with rectangular glass panes and red-painted muntins

Saugus, MA Today

Saugus is much busier and more populated than when the houses were constructed. While most of the very oldest houses are gone, two houses have been preserved thanks to a pair of house nerds. Wallace Nutting, previously described in detail during my Wentworth-Gardner House article, was instrumental in the preservation of Iron Works House. William Sumner Appleton, a descendent of the Iron Works House owners, founded what is now Historic New England and preserved Boardman House.

Front Door at Boardman House; a red painted 18th century front door in a brown clapboard wall Kitchen Lean-to of Boardman House; the outside of the one story back portion Side of Boardman House; a closeup of the front. Outhouse at Boardman House; as seen through a six pane kitchen window on the first story.

Residents of Boardman House

The Boardman Family

William Boardman bought land to build a house in 1686. The Boardman House was previously thought to be built the next year in 1687, but research conducted by the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory proved that the house was built in 1692. In the next four years until his premature death at age 38, Boardman made improvements to his house, including a kitchen lean-to. This addition is super exciting for house nerds, because the original exterior features of the house were preserved in the wall. The Boardman family lived in this house until 1911, making decorative updates along the way, until they sold the property to Jacob Wilbur, a real estate dealer and precursor to modern day housing developers.

Inside corner at Boardman House; whitewashed post-and-beam connection in the corner of the first floor Floorboards at Boardman House Main Room Fireplace at Boardman House; about six feet tall and even wider Bread oven at Boardman House; made of red brick, with a rounded top Kitchen fireplace at Boardman House; about the same size as main fireplace Looking up the chimney at Boardman House; mostly dark, with crooked bricks seen in one corner, and the sky a tiny square at the very top

Italian-Americans

For a few years, several Italian families lived in the house at the same time. Called the Giolitti Era in Italy, people from the southern part of the country were systematically oppressed by Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti and other high ranking political leaders, who deemed them racially inferior. Italians faced similar discrimination in America. Even with these hardships in mind, the families made the Boardman House cheerful by painting the upstairs room a Mediterranean shade of pink.

Second floor fireplace; a four foot square red brick fireplace under a whitewashed ceiling surrounded by plain wooden walls and floors Corner of Upstairs Room at Boardman House; light pink walls, whitewashed ceiling, and a plain floor. Ghost lines of a removed wall in Boardman House; the paint changes from pink to blue-gray, and the floorboards have slight discoloration Door leading to the attic; a pink wall to the left, a plain wall in front, the edge of the fireplace on the right, and a plain door opening into a darkened room Ceiling on the Second Floor at Boardman House; a whitewashed ceiling with beveled rafters

But what about the Scottish Residents?

Remember how dendrochronology proved the true age of the Boardman House? Previously, the house was believed to be built in 1650 to house Scottish workers at Saugus Iron Works, leading to other, incorrect names like “Scotch House” after potential residents and “Bennett House” after the first recorded European occupant of the property, Samuel Bennett. Call it clever or deceptive, this marketing technique was used by Appleton to garner donations from Scottish-Americans to restore the house. A sign with this information was put up by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary Commission in 1930 and still resides in a closet at Boardman House.

The Scotch House sign; a metal sign with the Massachusetts state seal

Constructing & Restoring Boardman House

17th Century Construction Techniques

The house was built by timber framing, a post-Medieval European technique where pegs made of soft woods like pine connected a pair perpendicular of notched beams made of hardwoods. These structures predate widespread usage of nails. Even with the nearby ironworks, metal was expensive and use sparingly on door hinges. Other features common in houses from this time period include rough, wooden clapboards on the exterior; a thick, wooden skirtboard on the bottom of the wall; and roof boards on the ceiling. Boardman House does deviate from common building techniques to the construction of its room. The builders used few rafters (large wooden beams making the peak of the roof) but many purlins (small wooden beams attached to the rafters and parallel to the floor).

Timber framing model; four wooden pieces demonstrating 17th century construction Metal doorhinge at Boardman House Another metal doorhinge at Boardman House
Inside the attic at Boardman House; chimney on the left, preserved wall that was originally the outside of the house towards the left Second floor wall with residual green paint Dendrochronology marks on the whitewashed ceiling of the second floor

Fixing the Place Up

Appleton led the initial restoration of Boardman House by purchasing the building, evicting Italian families, and convincing Scottish families to fund the project. He removed most decorative elements from after 18th century, such as modern furnishings and wallpaper, with the exception of the solid staircase with a decorative handrail leading from the first to the second floor. Since then, teams from Historic New England have stabilized the building with support beams in the basement, replaced rotted floorboards, and excavated the site.

Basement at Boardman House; a pair of green painted pillars hold up the floor in the stonelined space Staircase at Boardman House; a late 18th century design with decorative balusters Poster board displaying black-and-white photos from archeological excavation of Boardman House 20th century box on the wall; a light green metal box with a circular metal design on the front View from the second floor landing on the stairs; the stairs go down towards a brick wall on the right, and up to a closed door on the left Second floor room at Boardman House; a spacious room with green painted walls, whitewashed ceiling, plain floors, and a four-foot square red brick fireplace. Two dendrochronology marks are visible on the ceiling.

Conclusion

As a smaller, less popular property, open hours for Boardman House are somewhat unusual. Tours are given on the second Saturdays and third Thursdays of the month on the hour at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m. Tours last about 45 minutes, but visitors on early tours are permitted to continue exploring the building during open hours. The tour is standard HNE small house pricing: $10 for adults, $9 for seniors, $5 for students and children, free for HNE members (like me!). As with most historic house museums, the home is not accessible by wheelchair. Steep steps and low lighting make the space difficult to navigate even for young, agile visitors. Proceed with caution and listen to advice from your guide whenever you are in the house. A virtual tour of the house is not available, but images of the house are available onsite.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 8/10

Accessibility: 5/10



Location: 17 Howard St, Saugus, MA 01906, USA