Back in 1637, first deputy governor under John Winthrop, built the fanciest house in Swampscott. His front door had the most nails in it, courtesy of the Hammersmith Iron Works in Saugus.
The British Navy, which commandeered all wide boards for its ships and let colonists use boards only 6 inches or less, couldn’t say no when John Humphrey put foot-wide boards on his floors and walls.
And, fresh off the boat from England with Lady Susan, John Humphrey insisted that those wide-planked walls be decorated. He called in Native American artists to paint a beautiful pattern of wavy vertical lines crossed with a thick horizontal band on his living room walls.
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This berry paint survives to this day and can be seen, along with the door and the boards a host of other historical artifacts, in the house now located on 99 Paradise Road and lovingly cared for the
This brown saltbox, which has three stories in the front and one in the back, has had its share of additions and historical ups and downs. After its colonial glory days, it became part of the Mudge Estate, which was now what we call the Monument area of town, and the colonial era home was used only as a summer house.
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The Mudge son was killed at Gettysburg during the Civil War, and the estate was broken up. Elihu Thompson bought what is now the , and the area was landscaped by the famous Fredrick Law Olmstead.
John Humphrey’s House, by then downgraded to a storage shed, was slated for demolition.
The recognition that John Humphrey’s House had enormous historical value led to its purchase, in 1891, by the newly formed Swampscott Historical Society. The Society moved the building to its current location, and the house is now on the National Registry of Historic Places.
The chimney, however, was found too expensive to move, and so was left behind. Although a chimney is visible on the roof, it’s a small one added later to accommodate modern heating — nothing like the sturdy chimney left behind. When on the top floor of the house, especially, you can see the hole left by its absence.
Ghosts? The caretaker of 15 years reports that only once has she heard unaccounted for footsteps.
Stories? Plenty — every one of the many objects in this preserved home was owned by someone who lived in Swampscott, someone we know little about, but only guess at by what they left behind.
