A black, white, and light blue header image with the words Historic New England: Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House

Back in September, I visited Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, a Historic New England (HNE) property located on the waterfront of Gloucester, MA. On the younger side of properties owned by HNE, American interior designer Henry Davis Sleeper constructed the eclectically decorated mansion in 1907. He continually renovated the building for twenty-seven years until his death in 1934, when the McCann family purchased the house and left it mostly unchanged. Ownership of the property passed to HNE in 1942 and has been a museum for over eighty years. The winding passages of Sleeper’s dream home boast an astonishing array of antiques, fine art, and remarkable design choices.

Beauport seen from the edge of the gardens; cottage style brick mansion hidden behind boxwoods, topiary, and berry bushes. A glimpse of the harbor to the left of the house.

The chimneys and weathervane of Beauport; stone turret with a bell tower plus a chimney made of four cylinders. A distant roof has another red brick chimney with a weathervane on top.

Ocean side of Beauport; a multistory brick building with a Swiss chalet inspired shape

National Historic Landmark plaque for Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House

Closeup of Tall Ship Weathervane at Beauport; on the top of a pointed turret is a metal weathervane shaped like a three-mast ship

Henry Davis Sleeper

Describe as the “Godfather of Modern Interior Design” by The Cricket, a local newspaper based in nearby Manchester-by-the-Sea, Sleeper was born into a wealthy family in 1878, but poor health kept him from formal education. In 1889, when Sleeper was eleven years old, his father Jacob Henry Sleeper bought a mansion in Marblehead designed by renown American architect Arthur Little. (Good taste ran in the Little family, along with money. Arthur Little’s nephew, Bertram K. Little, owned Cogswell’s Grant with his wife, Nina Fletcher Little.) The building deeply affected Sleeper, and he vowed to own his own home in the area when he grew up. His aspiration grew after visiting his friend, economist and politician Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr., at his mansion Red Roof in Gloucester, which was torn down back in 2012. Sleeper’s experience was evidently different than my own Red Roof experience.

Squirrel Sculpture at Beauport; a brown wooden sculpture of a red squirrel eating a nut perched on a round, green fence ornament. The harbor is in the background.

Ocean Side of Beauport; multi-story Swiss chalet inspired house with many, many windows. Tall boxwood trees block part of the house.

More of the Ocean Side of Beauport House; special focus on the red brick retaining walls and matching staircase

Even More of the Ocean Side of Beauport House; focus on the green lawn, ornamental trees, and flowers, with the red brick wall and the mansion in the background

Lower Lawn at Beauport; a grassy area close to the harbor surrounded by redbrick walls and matching steps. A picnic table is in the middle of the lawn.

Front Entrance at Beauport; a Swiss chalet meets Gothic and Post-Medieval style house. A combination of window types, shutters, a balcony, and an overhang make for a confusing façade.

Twenty-seven years after first staying at his father’s house in Marblehead, on August 13, 1907, Sleeper purchased a lot from hotel constructor George O. Stacey, whose now-demolished buildings included Moorland Hotel, The Hawthorne Inn, and The Magnolia Hotel. The beginnings of Sleeper’s mansion were fit for occupancy by May 12, 1908, and he invited Andrew as his first guest. Sleeper’s other wealthy neighbors included Caroline Sidney Sinkler, who also owned Highlands Mansion in Fort Washington, PA, and frequent visitor Isabella Stewart Gardner, whose own mansion is now a museum in Boston, MA. Also among their circle were fellow restorationist Emily Tyson, who owned Hamilton House in South Berwick, ME; her fellow South Berwick resident, romance author Sarah Orne Jewett; and Norwegian-American self-taught architect Halfdan Marinius Hanson, who assisted Sleeper in remodeling. The market for historic mansions and new build replicas was small.

Falcon Sculpture at Beauport; matching the previously mentioned squirrel sculpture

Gothic Style Windows at Beauport; diamond panes of glass in three windows set into a stone turret. The middle window is twice the height and width of the other windows.

Bust of Athena in the Garden; a replica bust hides behind a fern beside the red brick side of the mansion

Wooden Carving of a Gothic Soldier; he wears medieval clothing and holds a small sword

Who Is That Man? Carving of a bearded man on the outside of a stone building, with a flat head to hold up the wooden section of the building.

George Washington as Cincinnatus; metal statue of George Washington clad in a toga set over a stove

Sleeper was beloved by the architecture and interior design community, receiving articles multiple magazines, including the October 1924 issue of The Architect. He took a break from his career to serve in the American Field Service (AFS) during World War I, rising to the position of Director of AFS headquarters in France and receiving the Legion of Honor, the Medal of Honor, and the Croix de Guerre from the French government. Returning to the United States, his home became a pilgrimage site for design enthusiasts, with housekeeper Mary Landergan Wonson acting as first tour guide and director. The American Institute of Architects awarded Sleeper an honorary membership in 1934. Four months later, Sleeper died of leukemia at age fifty-six. As an unmarried gay man with no children, the status of his heavily mortgaged project was in jeopardy.

Post-Medieval style kitchen fireplace at Beauport; a brown brick fireplace with a heavy wooden mantel hung with many cast iron cooking utensils. The brick floor is filled with additional impliments.

Makeup table at Beauport; a short wooden table with an attached mirror and various beauty impliments on the table.

Decorated ceiling in the Green Bedroom; floral wallpaper and birds combined with paint on a gabled ceiling

View of the harbor from Mrs. Sleeper's Bedroom; set of four post-medieval style, floor-to-ceiling window with diamond pans of glass. Through the window is the lawn and the harbor. In front of the window is an easy chair and a daybed.

Full view of the upstairs dining room; a wooden paneled room with a mix of Neoclassical and nautical carvings on the walls and ceiling. In the middle of the room is a dining table with matching chairs.

Ship stove in the upstairs dining room; a cast iron stove shaped like a Greek lyre with a bald eagle statue on top

Geraniums in the Jacobean Room; large Gothic style windows with geraniums on the sills. A large tin lantern hangs from the ceiling.

Large window of the Central Hall; A large set of decorative, indoor windows with shelving in between the windows holding orange and yellow glass containers.

Portrait of Mrs. Sleeper; framed black-and-white photograph of a middle aged Victorian woman

Sleeper’s older brother, Stephen Westcott Sleeper, quickly found ideal buyers for the property. The ultra wealthy McCann family bought the property as a retirement mansion and kept the decor and collections intact except for the Chinese themed room, which nobody liked. Mrs. Helena Maud Woolworth McCann had inherited a multimillion dollar fortune from her father, Frank Winfield Woolworth, founder of the Woolworth five-and-dime store chain. She was intent on preserving the property after her death and approached the founder of HNE, William Sumner Appleton, Jr., but became ill and died in 1938 at age fifty-nine before the transfer could be finalized. Fortunately for HNE, her adult children worked with Appleton to complete the bequest on the condition that they could continue to occupy the house, and the arrangement was completed by 1942.

Smaller Two-Sided Glass Cabinet in Central Hall; clear glass in front of three shelves holding colorful glassware in white, blue, green, and pink, with a cloudy pane of glass behind, giving the case a backlit effect

Wide view of the Pine Kitchen; wooden floor, exposed wooden beam ceiling, and wooden panels on the walls with built-in cabinets holding earthenware. Several chairs and tables litter the space, while rag rugs and hooked rugs are on the floor.

Painted depiction of Pine Kitchen displayed on an easel in Pine Kitchen

Wooden Welcoming Pineapple in the upstairs dining room; the guest bedroom with a pair of twin beds is visible through the doorway

Built-in glass display of bird postcards in the main staircase

Glass window between inside rooms; each pane of glass in the four by four window has a round indentation

Beauport Design

As a student of European and American architecture and a highly creative person, Sleeper incorporated his vast knowledge of construction and decor into the many rooms comprising his mansion. Each space has a unique theme or time period from modern history, from a sentimental version of the Jacobean Era in early 17^th century England to the cutting edge technology of the 1930s.

Central Hall

This space introduces Sleeper's themes of color, light, and American patriotism. Two indoor windows with colorful bottles light up the space, while a stove statue featuring George Washington as Cincinnatus (a motif I first discovered at the American Independence Museum in Exeter, NH) kept the area warm in winter.

Decorative iron hinge in the guest bedroom; the hinge is shaped like two Greek lyres attached at the bottom

Avant-garde decorative window with a view of the harbor; the widow is a few bars of iron and iron curlicues

Avant-garde decorative window with a view of a wall; the window is three strate iron bars and two wavy iron bars

Wall of windows overlooking the harbor; the center window is in two parts, with the top section shaped like a Hersey kiss and the bottom section rectangular. The rectangular windows on either side are about two-thirds the size of the middle rectangle.

Staircase balusters with three distinct designs.

Jacoban Room

Named for a time period when King James I ruled England, which was also the time of Shakespeare and the first translation of the King James Bible, Sleeper drew inspiration from this post-medieval era with his inclusion of pewter plates, a tin stove, small windows, and plenty of dark wooden paneling. Today, the room is dedicated in honor of Frasier Winfield McCann, son of Mrs. Helena McCann.

Sign reading 'The Jacobean Room, dedicated in honor of Frasier W. McCann'

Jacobean style tin stove; a boxy stove with a small double door in front

Jacobean style fireplace; a small, rough fireplace with wooden paneling and a wooden chair in front

Pewter dishes in the Jacobean Room cabinet

Furniture by the window in the Jacobean Room; including a matching pair of easy chairs; a matching pair of wooden chairs, a makeup table with matching mirror, a built-in cabinet with delft dishes, and a built-in storage box underneath the small window

Pine Kitchen

A romanticized take on the traditional kitchen of the late colonial period, this kitchen is stuffed with iron cooking utensils, earthenware pottery, and wooden everything. In contrast to this idealized time period, a window shade hung in the space depicts mid 19^th century war iconography, commemorating the work of “Old Rough and Ready”, the nickname of General Zachary Taylor, in the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War.

View of the Pine Kitchen fireplace from behind the wooden benches and table

Old Rough and Ready window shade obscured by a red glass orb; the shade commemorates the fighting of Zachary Taylor, nicknamed 'Old Rough and Ready' at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War

Modern Kitchen

Mrs. Wonson worked in this industrial level kitchen, furnished with the best appliance of its time. A massive cast iron stove and a hand cranked meat grinder are two notable features. On the wall is a stately mural of George Washington, who presides over all kitchen activity. Next door is the surprisingly modern and practical laundry room beside the kitchen is a box for Satin Gloss Starch produced by Duryeas National Starch Company.

The cast iron stove of the modern kitchen; the floor is black and white checkerboard patterned; nearby, a table is filled with cooking utensils and replica vegetables

Metal Chopper in the Modern Kitchen; a grinder with a manual crank attached to the table.

Mural of George Washington; nearly a full body portrait minus the feet. George stands beside a table covered with a red tablecloth and laden with books. Behind him is a matching chair.

Back side of the Smaller Two-Sided Glass Cabinet in Central Hall; a white, porcelain dry sink is attached to the wall to the right of the window

Sink and eating utensil cabinet in the Modern Kitchen

Upstairs Bedrooms & Dining Room

On the second floor are several bedrooms and an informal dining room. A green themed bedroom for Sleeper contains mid 19^th century furniture and a fancy wallpaper-and-paint wall decoration. Sleeper meticulously cut floral designs from the paper and pasted them onto the seagreen wall. For guests. Sleeper's mother, Maria Westcott Sleeper, had her own red, black, and gold themed room with a view of the harbor and gilt wallpaper. A small music room contains a spinnet, a type of small piano also found at Coffin House in Newbury, MA. The guest bedroom comprises of a pair of twin poster beds and had a nautical theme, with a built-in closet filled with animal figurines and a tin lantern hanging from the wooden ceiling. The informal dining room shares a similar theme. A closed balcony in this space affords spectacular views of the harbor.

Lamp in the green bedroom; a green lamp with bouba and kiki pattern on the base.

Maritime landscape painting in the green bedroom; oil painting depicting two buildings and a white church on the harbor, with a tall ship nearby.

Face of a tall clock at Beauport; the clock has all three finials

Makeup table in walk-in closet; a wooden table with attached mirror

Green bedroom at Beauport; Gable with green painted wall and floral wallpaper

Mrs. Sleeper's Room at Beauport; a floor to ceiling Gothic style window overlooking the piazza and the harbor. An upholstered chair and daybed sit in front of the window. The fabric of the chair matches the curtains around the window.

Bed in the green bedroom; the red and green coverlet matches the green floral wallpaper and painted ceiling.

Dresser and mirror in the green bedroom; a five drawer antique dresser next to a painted chair matching the the green floral wallpaper and painted ceiling

Spinnet in the Music Room; a small piano underneath a post-medieval style window

Built-in closet with animal figurines in the guest bedroom

Decorations in the guest bedroom; including a window covered with balusters, a rustic electric lamp, a round table with knickknacks, and a built-in wooden cabinet

Tin Lamp and Decorative Wooden Door; the lamp is hung from the ceiling abolve the door. The top of the door has a small heart carved in the top. The door is hinged to the doorframe with the double-lyre hinge.

Chandelier in Mrs. Sleeper's bedroom; Chinese-inspired black and gold wallpaper is hung behind the chandelier

Red lamp in Mrs. Sleeper's bedroom; the glass orb lamp hangs from the ceiling covered in black and gold wallpaper

Pair of twin canopy beds in the guest bedroom

Golden Step Dining Room

Just down the stairs is another dining room overlooking the sea. Taking up a good portion of the walking space is a model of the 'Golden Step Ship' for which the dining room is named. At its longest point, the ship measures nine feet and two inches (about 2.8 meters). A second model ship representing the Haze hangs over the fireplace and is small in comparison, measuring five feet and three inches (1.6 meters). This room is filled with the same green and plant inspired elements as Sleeper's bedroom upstairs. The leaflike plates cover the pair of long dining tables, while extra plates are stored on matching green shelves.

Indoor window with a green ceramic castle set in front.

Set of Four Shelves laden with green, leaflike plates

View of the harbor from Golden Step Dining Room; looking through the post-medieval style window next to the dining table

Model ship over the fireplace in Golden Step Dining Room

Model of the 'Golden Step Ship' for which the dining room is named

So Many Windows

This property has so many windows, and I would hate to be the window washer. Every window is different, so the glass had to be customized for each one. Additionally, Sleeper used several types of glass to achieve different lighting effects. Almost no bad views can be had in this house, except for a window in the laundry room that shows only a wall.

Rectangular window overlooking the harbor

Large porch window looking into the house

Second story window overlooking the harbor

Four section curved window looking onto the veranda and the harbor

Wall sized window looking onto the lawn and the harbor; the middle third of the window has a semicircular section

Octagon Room

No mansion would be complete without an Octagon Room. Similar in shape to a room at Governor John Langdon House in Portsmouth, NH, the space likely took inspiration from the octagon movement of the 1850s started by amateur architect and phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler. This room has a red and black theme, with red books, trays, lamps, a screen, and a portrait of Mozart wearing a red coat. As an adding bonus, the table is an octagon with eight matching chairs.

Portrait of Mozart in a red jacket hung over a mantel stuffed with red books, red lamps, and faux flowers; the wall is painted dark bluish-black

Cluttered writing desk in the Octagon Room; shelving over the desk is filled with red and gold trays, ceramics, and candlesticks

Octagon Dining Table in the Octagon Room; the table has eight matching chairs, eight stacks of red books, and candles

Parlor & Office

The most stunning feature of the parlor is the giant window with colorful glass orbs overlooking the harbor. A mahogany banjo clock hung on the wall of the parlor was built by Currier & Foster of Salem, a partnership between American silversmith Edmund M. Currier and his apprentice George B. Foster, whose work is also held at the Peabody-Essex Museum. Another fun artifact in the parlor is a first edition of A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton, who was active in the wealthy New England interior design community and best friend to Ogden Codman, Jr. of Codman Estate. In contrast to the grandeur of this space, Sleeper spent much of his time in the tiny, unfinished office separated from the rest of the room by a curtain. Perhaps he had planned this to be his final design project.

Parlor window overlooking the harbor; three sections of rectangular windows with a semicircular window on top of the middle section. Resting on a shelf in front of the window is a series of colorful glass orbs. Below the window is a window seat with three pillows.

Banjo Style Clock in the Parlor; the neck of the clock is shaped like an inverted Greek lyre, painted with an American shield, and gilt on the edges. A black label indicates that the clock was made by Currier & Foster of Salem.

A Son at the Front by Edith Wharton; a red book with black text stacked on top of two other books

Decorative purple glass candy dish with a long stem

Sleeper's Office; in an unfinished closet is a pair of windows, a tiny desk and chair, a desk lamp, and an embroidered green curtain half-hiding the area.

Shell-Shaped Shelving in the Sitting Room; on the left is built-in green shelving with four shelves and a shell-shaped top. TO the right is a sitting room with an 18th century writing desk and drawers, a hooked rug on the floor, and wallpaper depicting images of bountiful fruit and hunting deer on horseback

China Trade Room

As the only room renovated by Mrs. McCann, it is clear that her taste was compatible with Sleeper's vision for Beauport. The blue-tinted wallpaper depicts scenes of Chinese rural life at the end of the 19^th century and contrasts the bright yellow upholstery on the matching couch and chairs. On either side of the China Trade Room is are matching, ornate balconies draped with golden curtains. To top it all off, a crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

Full view of the Chinese Trade Room; filled with yellow apolstered and mahogany furnature, the blue tinted wallpaper depicts scenes from Chinese rural life at the end of the 19th century. A glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

Carved Chinese Balcony in the China Trade Room; an ornate balcony obscured by a golden curtain.

Gardens

The fun does not end inside. Besides gorgeous views of the water, visitors find plenty of photo opportunities on the outside of the house. Cute animal statues line the red brick walls, a bearded man hides in the corner of the house, and the statue of a little saint stands between opened French doors matching his size. This is an idea location to examine one of a kind architectural details or take family holiday photos.

Another angle of the four-part chimney and cupola; also visible is the stone turate and red brick portion of the house

Side of Beauport; Two triangular shaped section of the house, one in front of the other, made of red brick and black shingles.

The Saint of Beauport; multi-layered, harbor facing side of the house with many windows and a little pair of French doors opening to reveal the statue of a saint.

Conclusion

Because of its size and appeal, Beauport ties with Bowman House in Dresden, ME as the most expensive HNE property to visit. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for students, $10 for youths ages six to twelve, and $0 for HNE members (like me!). Beauport is open on an extended schedule, with tours from late May to mid October, Wednesday through Saturday, leaving on the half hour from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tours last about one hour, and visitors can remain on the grounds for as long as the property is open. This property has a decently sized gift shop, a rarity for HNE properties and a great place to get HNE merch. Ample parking is across the street from the mansion. Be warned that a security guard may be stationed at the end of the road, but he will let you in once you mention the mansion.

Unfortunately, this tour is not physically accessible for everyone. Like most historic houses, Beauport does not have ramps or elevators for wheelchair users, and its narrow stairways are not suitable for people with limited mobility. Young children may be tempted to touch the many breakable pieces on display. However, Beauport does have a super fun virtual tour hosted by Matterport, the monopoly of 3D house tours. Virtual visitors can explore the house and have access to more spaces than in-person visitors. Plenty of information exist on the website to accompany that tour.

For anyone who loves the Newport Mansions but does not love the crowds, Beauport is a must-see destination. The incredible architecture, massive number of antiques, and well-scripted tour make this the perfect destination for historians, artists, and members of the general public who rarely visit museums.

Navigation tools; a round table holding a sexton, globes, and lamps

Spiderweb Window; a round glass window with wooden design appearing like a spiderweb

Doorknob to the Visitor Center; an ornagely carved doorknob with a sun at the center and flowers around the edge

Eagle and Eaglet Statue on the Stairs; lifesize bronze statue of a mother eagle feading an eaglet in a nest set on top of cabinets on the landing between the first and second story of the main staircase.

Duryeas Satin Gloss Starch Box; the box also reads 6 lbs. Manufactured by NATIONAL STARCH COMPANY GENERAL OFFICES NEW YORK, U.S.A.

Laminate flooring in the Laundry Room; a blocky red laminate pattern from the 1930s

Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 8/10

Accessibility: 8/10

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Abby Epplett, Historian

Historic New England: Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House