The Abraham Browne House (built c. 1694–1701) is a colonial house located at 562 Main Street,

Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...

, US. It is now a nonprofit museum operated by

Historic New England Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England a ...

and open to the public two afternoons per year. The house was originally a modest one-over-one dwelling. The house features steep roofing and casement windows. During restoration works in 1919, details of 17th century finish were found. The ground floor consists of one large room that is used for living, cooking, and sleeping. By 1919 the house was nearly ruined when it was acquired by

William Sumner Appleton William Sumner Appleton Jr. (May 29, 1874 – November 24, 1947) was founder of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) in 1910. He was the chief force behind much of the preservation of historic homes in the New Englan ...

, who in 1923 donated it to

. The house has grown by a series of enlargements but they occurred behind the original block, thus preserving the profile of the one-over-one elevation. The exception, a 19th-century addition, was removed before 1919. The Browne House is one of fewer than a half-dozen houses in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

to retain this profile. The Abraham Browne house was featured on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

's ''

This Old House ''This Old House'' is an American home improvement media brand with television shows, a magazine, and a websiteThisOldHouse.com. The brand is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The television series airs on the American television networ ...

'' television program.

References

External links

Browne House
– Historic New England {{coord, 42.37187, N, 71.19982, W, source:placeopedia, display=title Houses completed in 1701 Historic house museums in Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Watertown, Massachusetts Historic New England 1701 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay

See also

References

External links