First Period is an American architecture style originating between approximately 1626 and 1725, used primarily by British colonists during the settlement of the British colonies of North America, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia. Among U.S. counties, Essex County, Massachusetts has the highest number of preserved First Period architecture buildings.
The John Whipple House is a historic colonial house at 1 South Green in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Built in the seventeenth century, the house has been open to the public as a museum since 1899 and was the subject of some of the earliest attempts at the preservation of colonial houses. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, one of the earliest properties to receive that honor.
The John Ward House is a National Historic Landmark at 9 Brown Street in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. With an early construction history between 1684 and 1723, it is an excellent example of First Period architecture, and as the subject of an early 20th-century restoration by antiquarian George Francis Dow, it is an important example of the restoration techniques. Now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum, it is also one of the first colonial-era houses in the United States to be opened as a museum. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.
The Edgartown Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the traditional center of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The district is roughly bounded by Water St. and Pease's Point Way, and encompasses some 500 acres (200 ha). The buildings within the district primarily represent the period of Edgartown's growth in the 19th century, featuring the elaborate houses of wealthy ship captains, as well as significant public buildings such as the Dukes County Courthouse and Jail, the Federated Church, and the Whaling Church. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Abbot-Baker House is a historic house at 5 Argilla Road in Andover, Massachusetts. Estimated to have been built about 1685, it is one of Andover's oldest houses, supposedly built by a third-generation colonist. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The John Boardman House is a historic First Period house in Boxford, Massachusetts. Its oldest portion dates to about 1740, but has stylistically older elements. It was moved to its current location from Saugus in 1956, before which it had undergone restoration. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Brown House is a historic First Period house in Hamilton, Massachusetts. Built in the 1660s or 1670s, it is one of the oldest surviving houses in Essex County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Benjamin Stickney Cable Memorial Hospital is a historic hospital building at the junction of Massachusetts routes 1A and 133 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, U.S. The Colonial Revival building was built in 1917, following an extended fundraising effort, begun in 1906 and pushed further along by philanthropist and Castle Hill owner Richard T. Crane, Jr., after the 1915 death in a car accident of his friend, Benjamin Stickney Cable. Crane purchased the land on which the building sits and made a further donation of $145,000 to the construction fund.
The Dickinson–Pillsbury–Witham House is a historic First Period house which, along with an 18th-century barn, sits on an 8.84 acre lot in Georgetown, Massachusetts. The well-preserved building with its massive original hardwood frame has many surviving early components, including a rare original enclosed stairway, doors, wooden latches, hardware, cupboards, brick nogging in the walls, and early paint.
Georgetown Central School, or Memorial Town Hall, is a historic school building at 1 Library Street in Georgetown, Massachusetts. The building currently serves as Georgetown's Town Hall. It occupies a prominent location in the town center, and is one of its best Colonial Revival structures.
The Isaac Goodale House is a historic house in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Built about 1700, the house has many original First Period elements, despite its relocation to its present location in 1928. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, and is the subject of a preservation easement held by the Ipswich Historic Commission.
The High Street Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district in Ipswich, Massachusetts. It encompasses the oldest section of High Street, which was laid out when Ipswich was founded in 1633. The district runs for four blocks from the junction with Town Farm Road and the railroad right-of-way in the west, to North Main Street in the east. The street was for several centuries part of the principal thoroughfare through the town, but became sidelined by the construction of Central Street in 1871, which bypassed traffic off most of this stretch of High Street.
The William Murray House is a historic First Period house on the east side of Salem, Massachusetts. It is a two-story wood-frame house that consists of two distinct sections that have not always been treated as a single unit. Its construction history provides a window into 17th and 18th century building methods. The westernmost section was built c. 1688, and is three window bays wide and a single room in depth. The eastern section, also three bays wide and one room deep, was added in the late 17th or early 18th century. The western portion originally had an overhanging section of the second floor; this was altered in the early 18th century, when the roof was raised to a flatter pitch and the overhanging section was concealed by construction of a flush wall.
Meetinghouse Green Historic District encompasses the historic 17th century heart of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The district runs along North Main Street, south from its junction with High Street to the southern end of the Meetinghouse Green. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The House on Labor-in-Vain Road is a historic house in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Built about 1720 and enlarged c. 1810, it has a well-preserved assortment of architectural stylistic details predating 1850. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The Rev. Samuel Woodward House is a historic house located at 19 Concord Road in Weston, Massachusetts. Built in 1753, it is a well-preserved example of mid-18th century Georgian architecture. It has also been home to a succession of people significant to the history of the town. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and was included in Weston's Boston Post Road Historic District in 1983.
The Samuel Bancroft House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. With an estimated construction date of 1748, it is one of the town's older surviving houses, and one of a small number from the late colonial period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Hatch Homestead and Mill Historic District encompasses two properties associated with the locally prominent Hatch family on Union Street in Marshfield, Massachusetts. It includes an early Georgian colonial house, and a 19th-century water-powered mill, both located on sites that had seen similar use since the 17th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
The House by the Side of the Road is a historic house at 61 School Street in Tilton, New Hampshire. The house, built c. 1783, is a modest 1+1⁄2-story Cape style house that is five bays wide, with a center entry and a central chimney. The house is locally notable as the home of poet Sam Walter Foss in 1877–78, when he was attending Tilton Seminary, and has been known as the "House by the Side of Road" after Foss's poem of the same name, since the 1890s. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Jonathon Keyes Sr. House, also known incorrectly in town histories as the Solomon Keyes House, is a historic house at 16 Frances Hill Road in Westford, Massachusetts. It was probably built in the mid-18th century, and is one of the town's oldest surviving buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
