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 Daniel Marrett House is a historic house museum at 40 East Ossipee Trail in Standish, Maine. Built in 1789, it is a prominent local example of Greek Revival architecture, and was for many years owned by members of the Marrett family. In 1944 it was given to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, which operates it as a museum today. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
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, 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 are owned by the Wentworth Lear Historic Houses and are operated as a house 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 Hyland House Museum or Hyland–Wildman House is a historic house museum at 84 Boston Road in Guilford, Connecticut. Built in 1713, it is one of the town's best-preserved houses of that period. It has been open to the public as a museum since 1918, under the auspices of a local historic preservation group. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The house features Colonial-era furnishings and artifacts.
The Clement Weaver–Daniel Howland House is a historic stone-ender timber frame house built in 1679. This rare example of primitive 17th-century architecture is located at 125 Howland Road in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It is the oldest documented dwelling house in Kent County and the second oldest home in Rhode Island.
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.
Beebe Homestead, also known as the Lucius Beebe House and Beebe Farm, is a historic Federal period home at 142 Main Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts, which was built during the federal era that extended from the late 18th-century into the 1820s. It is suspected to have been remodeled into the federal style from an earlier home built in circa 1727. It overlooks Lake Quannapowitt, and according to a 1989 study of historic sites in Wakefield, the house is "one of Wakefield's most imposing landmarks." The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Gilman Garrison House is a historic house museum at 12 Water Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. Built in 1709, it is a rare surviving example of a garrison house or fortified structure. It is owned by Historic New England, which operates the home as a house museum, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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.
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.
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.
