304 High Street

History

The Eliza M. Coffin House at 304 High Street is a well-preserved circa 1870 Sidehall Italianate-style residence prominently sited at the northwest corner of High and Chapel Streets. The building is set on a brick foundation and clad in narrow clapboards with simple cornerboards. The principal façade faces southwest toward High Street and presents the tall, rectilinear form typical of the Italianate style.

The main block is arranged beneath a front-gabled roof, whose deeply overhanging eaves are supported by paired brackets and finished with a fully returned cornice. Both the southwest (front) gable and northeast (rear) gable have jerkinhead (clipped-gable) terminations, giving the structure a distinctive flattened-gable profile at both ends and contributing to its picturesque roofline.

The façade follows a side-hall plan, with the main entrance positioned on the western half of the southwest elevation. The entry is sheltered by a small classical portico supported by square posts. Window openings are tall and evenly spaced, set within molded surrounds, with most sash appearing to be 6/6 replacements consistent with historic proportions.

Extending to the northeast from the main block is a substantial two-story rear extension covered by a broad hipped roof. On the southeast (Chapel Street) elevation, this extension incorporates a prominent half-octagonal bay, whose angled surfaces give the house additional depth and articulation. This bay is a defining feature of the Chapel Street side.

A one-story porch occupies the recessed space between the main block and the northeast extension on the southeast elevation. This porch is set beneath a low hipped roof supported by square posts and enclosed by a simple balustrade. It provides secondary access oriented toward Chapel Street and contributes to the building’s layered side massing.

The northeast (rear) elevation mirrors the form of the front gable with its own jerkinhead termination, reinforcing the building’s visual symmetry when viewed from the street network that wraps behind the property. Landscaping includes foundation shrubs, a small lawn, and fencing appropriate to a historic domestic lot.

Historical Narrative

The house at what is now 304 High Street stands on a lot historically situated at the northwest corner of High and Chapel Streets in the Belleville section of Newburyport. The site was part of a larger tract subdivided during the mid-19th century, as shown on an 1864 map with lot lines but no buildings. The earliest deeds describe the land only, indicating that no dwelling yet occupied the parcel in the 1860s. The property changed hands several times during this period, passing from John D. Pike to Charles H. and George Ordway in 1866, then to Alice L. March in 1882, and to Sophia C. Hale later that same year. In 1884, Hale conveyed the lot to Eliza M. Coffin. The Coffin ownership marks the first period in which a dwelling can be reliably placed on the site.

By the mid-1880s, a house was almost certainly standing. Newspaper evidence confirms the property’s active use by 1888, when William B. Coffin advertised a flourishing florist business at 270 High Street, the earlier street number for 304 High Street. The advertisement—published in the Newburyport Daily Herald on May 26, 1888—described “Coffin’s Greenhouse, Belleville,” offering roses, pinks, bedding plants, bouquets, and floral designs, with a greenhouse located at the rear of the property. This matches the greenhouse shown on later Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and demonstrates that both the residence and an associated horticultural operation were in place by that date. The Coffin family held the property until 1895.

On May 14, 1895, Eliza M. Coffin transferred the property to Robert C. McConnell, who in turn conveyed it to Alice G. Rollins. Rollins was in residence by the first decade of the 20th century and continued the property’s pattern of domestic use coupled with small-scale enterprise. On November 25, 1903, the Newburyport Daily News reported an “Arts and Crafts” exhibition held at Mrs. Alice G. Rollins’s home at 270 High Street, featuring handcrafted wares produced by the New Clairvaux Arts and Crafts Society of Montague, Massachusetts. The event reflects the occupant’s cultural interests and corroborates the property’s established address at that time.

Carrie F. Pike acquired the property from Rollins in 1912 and later consolidated her ownership through an additional deed in 1931 from the heirs of William C. Coffin. Pike held the property until 1948, when she conveyed it to Pandi and Fernande Dalton. The Daltons sold the property to Chester M. and Edna M. Abbott in 1955; following Edna’s death, Chester conveyed the property to Gerard C. and Patricia M. Cody in 1960. The Cody family retained ownership for six decades, eventually transferring the property into two family trusts in 2005, with subsequent internal conveyances in 2020. The property was ultimately conveyed out of the Cody family in October 2020.

Although the exact construction date has not been documented, the evidence indicates that the dwelling was erected between the 1866 subdivision of the land and the 1884–1888 period. By this time, a house and greenhouse were unquestionably in operation. Both the Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System (NWB.1504) and the City of Newburyport identify the building as a circa 1870 sidehall Italianate, a date entirely consistent with the documentary record, architectural character, and the timing of development in this section of High Street.