Cogswell's Grant is a working farm and
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
in
Essex, Massachusetts
Essex is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, 26 miles (42 km) north of Boston and 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Newburyport. It is known for its former role as a center of shipbuilding. The population was 3,675 at the 2020 ce ...
. It was the summer home of
Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little, preeminent collectors of American
decorative arts
]
The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...
in the mid 20th century. Through her research and innumerable publications, Mrs. Little charted new areas of American folk art (which she preferred to call "country arts"), such as decorative painting, floor coverings, boxes, and New England pottery.
In 1937, the Littles purchased this farm, including its 18th-century farmhouse with views of the Essex River, as a family retreat and place to entertain. They named it Cogswell's Grant, after
John Cogswell
John Cogswell (1592–1669) was a leading figure and large landowner in the early history of Ipswich, Massachusetts and a deputy for the General Court of Massachusetts. He is the immigrant ancestor to a large number of notable Americans.
Biograph ...
, who was the first English colonial owner of the property, which includes about of land. They carefully restored the farmhouse, trying to preserve original 18th-century finishes and carefully documenting their work, and decorated from their extensive collection of artifacts. In more than 50 years of collecting, they sought works of strong, even quirky character, and in particular favored objects with their original finishes and New England histories. They decorated the house for visual delight rather than historical accuracy. The result is rich in atmosphere and crowded with collections of things—primitive paintings, redware, painted furniture, stacked
Shaker boxes, weather vanes and decoys—that have since come to define the country look.
Bertram Little served for many years as president of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now called
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 ...
. The Littles bequeathed the property, complete with its contents and associated records, to that organization in 1984. Part of the 19th century barn north of the house has been adapted for use as a visitor's center, and the rear ell of the house has been adapted for use as a caretaker's residence and visitor restrooms.
Cogswell's Grant is open for public tours Wednesday through Sunday, June 1 - October 15.
[
]
See also
*
References
External links
Historic New England: Cogswell's Grant
{{coord, 42.639042, -70.773393, display=title, type:landmark
American folk art
Historic house museums in Massachusetts
Museums in Essex County, Massachusetts
Decorative arts museums in the United States
Houses in Essex, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts
Former private collections in the United States
Historic New England