223 High Street

History

This house is significant because it is one of the very few Victorian Gothic buildings in the City of Newburyport. The house is probably a vernacular interpretation of the High Victorian Gothic style. The pointed arch is, of course, a Gothic feature.

In the High Victorian Gothic, details, such as porch rails, are heavier and lack the delicacy of the Early Gothic Revival. The external woodwork of the later revival is solid rather than gingerbread ornament. This is seen in both the roof gables and in the simple window frames of the building. The roof lines in this house are varied with several gables. This too is a feature of the style. The porch rails exhibit the contrast in scale typical of the Victorian Gothic. Here, there are large and small versions of similar pointed arch motifs.

At the turn of the 19th century, this lot of land was part of a larger parcel owned by William Hoyt. In 1813, the land was conveyed to Thomas Cary, who willed it to Howard College for the benefit of young men studying for Christian ministry. The land was sold to Ephraim W. Allen, proprietor and publisher of the Newburyport Herald, in 1831, who then sold it to Charles W. Story and Thomas W. Burnham.

The land was partitioned after Storey’s death. In 1862, this lot, assigned to Thomas Burnham, was sold to William W. Goodwin. Goodwin built the house that now stands on the site. The house has had very few owners. In 1914, it passed to Mary E. Goodwin upon the death of her husband.

In 1920, the house was sold to Eudora C. Hamilton, the wife of Robert D. Hamilton. Mrs. Hamilton lived in the house until her death in the spring of 1980.