Abby Epplett, Historian

For the third time, I went to Eustis Estate, a property owned by Historic New England. I had previously taken a self-guided tour during the holiday season in December 2022 and attended a quartet concert in 2023. This time, I took both the Design Tour and the Servants Tour, along with seeing the current exhibit The Importance of Being Furnished , which previously appeared on the blog during Day 1 of Historic New England Summit 2023 and a sneak preview webinar .

On Thursday, June 6, 2024 from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., I watched a webinar about an upcoming exhibit at Historic New England’s Eustis Estate Museum : “The Importance of Being Furnished: Four Bachelors at Home”. This exhibit was curated by R. Tripp Evans , an art history professor at my undergraduate alma mater Wheaton College, along with a material culture and historic preservation expert. The talk was introduced by public program administrator Moriah Illsley and site manager Karla Rosenstein. I first learned about this exhibition during  Day 1 of Historic New England Summit 2023  and wanted to find out more. Evans’ is based on his book by the same name, which was released on June 4 by Rowman & Littlefield . Both book and talk began with an anecdote about his grandmother’s house at 1821 Park Avenue in Richmond, VA. His grandmother moved into the house in December 1944, and his grandfather died suddenly only three days after moving in. Evans recalled being more ...

Today marks the second birthday of Abby Epplett, Historian . Two years ago, I posted my first review, which featured the “How Do You See the World?” Experience & Mapparium . Last year, on the first birthday of the blog , I counted down my top ten best performing posts, along with giving a general overview about blog viewership, and I will do the same this year. This is the 281 st post for the blog, bringing me to 156 posts in my second year, compared to 125 posts in my first year.

After taking a brief hiatus from history webinars, I watched “Edith Stevens: Pioneering Woman Cartoonist” with speaker Robert S. Davidson on March 6, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. Hosted by Historic New England, this informative, fast-paced, and at times hilarious talk focused on the life of a local artist who shaped women’s fashion and culture from the 1920s through the 1960s with her daily comic strip Us Girls in the Boston Post and Boston Globe . Edith Stevens was the aunt of Davidson, who currently teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and Design thanks to her encouragement to pursue his interest in art. Stevens was born in Fitchburg, MA in 1899, but her family soon moved to Staten Island. Her father, Beaumont Stevens , died in the New York City harbor after a ferryboat accident, leaving his only daughter Edith, his son Roswell , and his wife Margaret . The Stevens family soon moved to Chicago to live with an aunt, and then to Boston when Margaret remarried. Stevens went to Gi...

At last, I reach the conclusion of my journey to visit all thirty-eight properties owned by Historic New England (HNE) . In late September 2023, I made a special day trip to Yarmouth, MA on Cape Cod to visit several historic sites. My first major history stop was Winslow Crocker House , built in nearby West Barnstable around 1780 by maritime trader Winslow Crocker . I received an especially warm welcome from the excellent guides and celebrated my completion of the HNE passport book. This lovingly renovated home filled with antique furniture was the perfect way to bring this phase of my adventure to a close.

On Day 2 of my adventure to Amesbury, MA and Portsmouth, NH in September 2023, I visited Jackson House , the oldest extant home in New Hampshire, now owned by Historic New England (HNE). This was my 37 th HNE house out of the 38 properties in the collection. Jackson House resembled other post-medieval houses north of Boston, including Boardman House in Saugus, MA ; Coffin House in Newbury, MA ; Gedney House in Salem, MA ; and Browne House in Watertown, MA . The property has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1965. Richard Jackson built his family home around 1664 and included architectural features now familiar to old house enthusiasts and readers of this blog: summer beams with chamfered edges and lamb’s tongue stops; casement windows with diamond shaped panes of glass; and a tall attic space that served as a sleeping area. Jackson died in 1718, but the property was not divided among his heirs until nine years later in 1727. Fro...

In September 2023, I went on another long weekend adventure to northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. My first major stop was Rocky Hill Meeting House , a church turned museum owned by Historic New England (HNE) This is the only building out of the thirty-eight HNE properties that was never residential. Rocky Hill Meeting House was built with a vision in mind: creating a Congregationalist church in preparation for the population boom that was sure to come. A smaller meeting house had stood near the site since 1716, but the parishioners wanted bigger and better things. Reverend Samuel Webster had pastored the church since 1741 and dedicated his entire career to this one church community. He had already led the church for forty-four years when he proposed a new building for the coming revival. During construction in 1785, only two years after the end of the American Revolutionary War, this property was part of Salisbury, MA, as modern Am...