Pierce-Hichborn House

History

Built c. 1711, it is adjacent to the Paul Revere House and is operated as a nonprofit museum by the Paul Revere Memorial Association. The house is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Pierce–Hichborn House is three stories tall, faced in brick with decorative belt courses, large sash windows, and a shallow hip roof. Its narrow street-facing elevation faces east, with its main facade opening to the south. Inside it is laid out on each floor as a narrow central hallway and stairway with a single heated room to either side. Framing is oak and the trim is pine, including fireplace mantels. Each room originally had two front-facing windows and two side windows. The house has an irregular lot line facing North Square, creating rooms with oblique angles.

The house was built by glazier Moses Pierce, the grandson of John Jeffs, who had owned the site. William Shippard purchased the house in 1747. Nathaniel Hichborn, a boatbuilder and cousin of Paul Revere, acquired the house from Shippard in 1781. The Hichborn family lived in the house until 1864, and it became a tenement and store until the early 1940s. The house was acquired for museum use in 1950. The Paul Revere Memorial Association took over ownership in 1970 and continues to operate the house as a museum.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The official nomination form is linked under Sources.