Styles · 2 buildings with a page · 2 more in the state inventory, not yet researched
First Period
The oldest houses: post-and-beam frames, steep roofs and one great chimney.
- Usual dates
- 1625–1725
- In Newburyport
- c. 1651–1750
- Built Before 1775
- 2
How to recognize it
- 01A very steep roof, often with a long rear lean-to (a saltbox)
- 02One large central chimney, sometimes with pilastered or corbelled brickwork
- 03A low, asymmetrical front: the door is not always centered and the bays are uneven
- 04Small windows, originally casements; later sash with many small panes
- 05A second-story overhang (a jetty) on some houses, with carved drops at the corners
- 06Inside, exposed chamfered beams, summer beams and gunstock posts
About the style
First Period is the name given to the houses of the first century of English settlement, before Georgian ideas of symmetry arrived. They were built around a heavy oak frame, pegged together, with a massive central chimney serving a hall and a parlor and a steep roof for thatch or shingle. Few survive anywhere; Newbury and Newburyport have more than most places.
Almost every one has been added to, raised, re-windowed and clapboarded since, so the First Period house usually hides inside a later one. The frame, the chimney and the roof pitch give it away.
First Period in Newburyport
Also in the state inventory 2 buildings not yet researched
High Street
- 267 High Street Pilsbury–Edward Rawson House c. 1651
State Street
- 172 State Street Benjamin Coker House c. 1700
Styles are as recorded on each building's page; a building whose page names two styles is listed under the one that fits its date, or under Victorian Eclectic when both are Victorian, with its own wording under its address. Buildings not yet researched show the state inventory's dates and styles. Hollow dots are lost buildings. Locations: MassGIS / Massachusetts Historical Commission.