Peter And Oliver Tufts House
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The Peter and Oliver Tufts House (also known as the Peter Tufts House) is a historic house in
Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area o ...
. Built about 1714, it is one of the oldest houses in the city's Winter Hill neighborhood, and was owned in the 19th century by members of the Tufts family responsible for developing the city's brickyards. The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1989.


Description and history

The Tufts House is located on the west side of Sycamore Street, a residential street running north–south between Medford Street and Highland Avenue on the southwest side of Winter Hill. The house is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a gambrel roof, two chimneys, and clapboard siding. Its main facade faces east, and is symmetrically arranged, with a center entrance sheltered by an Italianate hood with heavy brackets. The oldest part of the house was built around 1714. The house "was originally built on Barberry Lane (Highland Ave.)" From 1775 to 1776, the house served as headquarters for General Charles Lee of the Continental Army during the siege of Boston. It was acquired in 1778 by Peter Tufts, grandson of the
Peter Tufts Peter Tufts (1617 – May 13, 1700) was a prominent early citizen of Medford, Massachusetts, and ancestor of Charles Tufts who donated land for the Tufts University campus. The Peter Tufts House is still standing; it is believed by some historia ...
who emigrated to America in 1646, and who operated a ferry from Charlestown to Malden, and remained in the Tufts family until the early 20th century. In the 1820s
Charlotte Cushman Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an expa ...
, the noted Boston actress, spent her childhood holidays at 'Uncle Oliver's Farm'". Peter Tufts eventually acquired a large parcel of farmland on the south side of Winter Hill. What is now Sycamore Street was originally the drive leading to the house. Peter and Oliver Tufts were, in addition to the farm, involved in establishing some brickyards that were an important business in Somerville in the 19th century.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerville, Massachusetts This is a list of properties and historic districts in Somerville, Massachusetts, that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter And Oliver Tufts House Houses completed in the 18th century Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Somerville, Massachusetts