Abby Epplett, Historian

The only thing better than a boat tour is two boat tours! In early August, not long after my trip around Portsmouth Harbor, I saw six beautiful lighthouse and reviewed the history of Essex County, MA on a two-and-a-half hour ride given by the family-run company Harbor Tours Inc. of Cape Anne . This tour had everything: fishing vessels, draw bridges, islands, and a boat named King Eider after a large sea duck. Tickets are $45 for adults, $42 for Seniors, $20 for children, and $0 for children 2 and under. While this is on the upper end of my spending, the trip was well worth the price.

Every year, The Trustees of Reservations hosts winter holiday celebrations called Winterlights, where several properties are brightly lit for visitors to walk through a night. This past December, I visited the Winterlights at Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens in North Andover, MA. This ninety-one acre (0.37 km sq) estate was once the summer home of Helen Granger Stevens Coolidge , which she shared with her well-connected diplomat husband, John Gardner Coolidge .

Each year in September, Essex National Heritage Area hosts Trails & Sails , an opportunity to “[b]e guided through unique landscapes on land and sea, explore historic properties, and take in cultural experiences of all kinds”. I attended locations and programs affiliated with this event for the second time in 2024. My first stop on this three-day adventure was Hammond Castle, a 20 th century home that takes inspiration from European Medieval architecture. This property was filled with history and artifacts, along with two great tours, so I am breaking this visit into two parts. As for national recognition, the house has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973 .

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.

In September 2024, I visited places and attended programs in Essex National Heritage Area as part of its annual event Trails & Sails . On my second day, I took quick history stops in Danvers and Beverly, MA between visits to Hospital Point Lighthouse ; Historic Beverly’s Cabot House , Balch House , and Hale Farm ; and Central Cemetery in Beverly . I visited the typical historic homes, parks, churches, and public buildings along with a stop at the oldest fruit tree in the United States.

A few weeks ago in May 2023, I visited Browne House in Watertown, MA , yet another restored late 17 th century building owned and maintained by Historic New England (HNE) . Lest you become bored by my obsession with houses constructed in a style known as First Period , American colonial , or Post-Medieval English , fear not! For this house is different and special, as they all are. Browne House was officially the “first fully documented restoration” of an old building in the United States. While not a perfect restoration, and certainly contrary to modern standards, the house shows not only how the Browne family may have lived at the time the house was constructed sometime between 1694 and 1710, but also how early 20 th century historians and architects learned to reconstruct old buildings.

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 ...