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 and is the oldest and largest regional preservation organization in the United States. Historic New England owns and operates historic site museums and study properties throughout all of the New England states except Vermont, and serves more than 198,000 visitors and program participants each year. Approximately 48,000 visitors participate in school and youth programs focused on New England heritage.
The Sarah Orne Jewett House is a historic house museum at 5 Portland Street in South Berwick, Maine, United States. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991 for its lifelong association with the American author Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909), whose influential work exemplified regional writing of the late 19th century. The house, built in 1774, is a high-quality example of late Georgian architecture. It is now owned by Historic New England, and is open for tours every weekend between June and October, and two Saturdays per month the rest of the year.
The Nickels-Sortwell House is a historic house museum at 121 Main Street in Wiscasset, Maine, United States. Built in 1807 by a wealthy ship's captain, the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as an exceptionally high-quality example of the Federal style of architecture. After serving as a hotel for much of the 19th century, the house returned to private hands in 1900. It was given to Historic New England in 1958, which gives tours of the house between May and October.
The James Pardee House, situated on the grounds of the John Pardee Homestead at 129 North Main Street, is one of the well-known historic homes built in the eighteenth century in the town of Sharon, Connecticut, according to the 1935 edition of The Connecticut Guide. Constructed in 1782 of locally produced salmon-colored brick, the Pardee House retains much of its original character and represents a significant and well-preserved vernacular expression of the late Georgian style in architecture, materials and workmanship in the State of Connecticut.
The Richard Jackson House is a historic house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built in 1664 by Richard Jackson, it is the oldest wood-frame house in New Hampshire. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is now a historic house museum owned by Historic New England, and is open two Saturdays a month between June and October.
The Wentworth-Gardner House is a historic mid-Georgian house built in 1760 and located at 50 Mechanic Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. The house is operated as a museum by the Wentworth-Gardner Historic House Association. It is one of the finest extant examples of high-style Georgian architecture in New England, and played a role in the architectural preservation movement of the early 20th century. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968.
The Wentworth Lear Historic Houses are a pair of adjacent historic houses on the south waterfront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Both buildings and an 18th-century warehouse were owned by the Wentworth Lear Historic Houses and were operated as a house museum. Only the Wentworth-Gardner house is a museum. They are located at the corner of Mechanic and Gardner Streets. The two houses, built c. 1750–60, represent a study in contrast between high-style and vernacular Georgian styling. The Wentworth-Gardner House is a National Historic Landmark, and the houses are listed as the Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Jonathan Hamilton House, also known as the Hamilton House, is a historic house at 40 Vaughan's Lane in South Berwick, Maine. Built between 1787 and 1788 by a merchant from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, this National Historic Landmark is a little-altered and high quality late Georgian country house. Acquired by preservationist friends of South Berwick native Sarah Orne Jewett at the turn of the 20th century, it is now a historic house museum owned by Historic New England, open for tours between June and October.
The Holland–Towne House is a historic house in Petersham, Massachusetts. Built in c. 1752 by Jonas Holland, it is one of the town's four surviving colonial-era houses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Fowler House is a historic house at 166 High Street in the Danversport section of Danvers, Massachusetts. Built in 1810, the brick 2+1⁄2-story structure is notable as a well-preserved example of Federal-style architecture in the area, and for its role in the early history of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
The Harrison House, also known as Harrison–Linsley House and incorrectly as the Swain-Harrison House, is a historic house museum at 124 Main Street in Branford, Connecticut. Built in 1724 by a descendant of Branford's founders, it is a good example of a Connecticut saltbox structure. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and is a contributing property to the Canoe Brook Historic District. Since 2016 it has been operated as a house museum by the Branford Historical Society.
The First Baptist Church of Bowdoin and Coombs Cemetery are an historic church and cemetery in Bowdoin, Maine. The church, a modest transitional Federal style-Greek Revival building, was built in 1839 for a congregation founded in 1788, and the cemetery is of similar antiquity. The property was the first in the town to be the subject of active preservation efforts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The William Goold House is a historic house at 280 Windham Center Road in Windham, Maine. Originally built in the year 1775 and later rebuilt in 1802, it was the longtime home of William Goold, a prominent 19th-century historian of the state of Maine and a state senator. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1990.
Maplewood Farm, also known as the Anderson-Lord House, is an historic farm property on River Road in South Windham, Maine, United States. The 135-acre (55 ha) farm has been held in the same family since 1738, and features an architecturally distinctive Gothic Revival main house. It is also notable as a summer estate of John Anderson, a prominent mid-19th century Maine politician, and of his son John Farwell Anderson, a noted civil engineer and agriculturalist. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Elisha Purington House also known as Pride Farm, is an historic house at 71 Mast Road in Falmouth, Maine. Built in 1761, it is a rare surviving example of Georgian architecture in Maine's rural interior. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 14, 1985.
Morgan W. Phillips (1943–1996) was an American founder of the field of architectural conservation. He is credited with coining the term "architectural conservation" in the early 1970s and was among the first to call himself an architectural conservator. Phillips worked for most of his career at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) in Boston, now Historic New England, and the organization's Conservation Center was largely built around his research and that of his apprentices.
Corey Farm, also known as Maplecote and Interbrook, is a historic farmstead and summer house on Parsons Road in Dublin, New Hampshire. Built about 1816 and enlarged later in the 19th century, it is a picturesque example of the adaptation of an older farm property for use as a summer estate. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Chandler-Parsons Blacksmith Shop, now the Blacksmith Shop Museum, is a historic blacksmith shop at 107 Dawes Road in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. Believed to be built in the early 1860s, it is one of a very small number of relatively unaltered rural 19th-century blacksmithies in the state. It is owned and operated by the local historical society as a museum, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Harriman School is a historic one-room schoolhouse on North Road in rural Sebec, Maine. Built in 1860, it is the oldest of two surviving 19th-century district schoolhouses in the community. The vernacular Greek Revival building served as a public school until 1933, and was converted into a museum by the Sebec Historical Society after it acquired the property in 1966. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
The Jewett-Eastman House is a historic house at 37 Portland Street in the center of South Berwick, Maine. Built about 1850, it is a fine local example of Greek Revival architecture. It is most notable for its association with the Jewett family, which included a prominent local businessman and a doctor, as well as the writer Sarah Orne Jewett, who was raised in this house. It served the town for a time as its public library, and is now owned by Historic New England, serving as a gallery space and as the visitors center for the adjacent Sarah Orne Jewett House.
