15 Saltbox Houses Worth Their Salt

October 30, 1735, marked a historic day in U.S. history: the birth of our second president, John Adams, in this humble abode on a six-acre plot in rural Quincy. Adams lived in the two-and-a-half story wooden saltbox home with chocolate-colored clapboard siding until he tied the knot with Abigail Smith in 1764. He and his bride moved into the house right next door, where eventually John Quincy Adams, our nation's sixth president, was born.

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Reverend John Smith built this saltbox home and lived there with his wife and their 13 children during the final quarter of the 17th century. The dwelling boasts such historic architectural elements as gunstock posts to support the walls and pumpkin pine beams from Maine. The house earned its name from its subsequent owner, whaling captain Abraham Hoxie, before it was acquired and restored by the small town of Sandwich in the 1950s.

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Built by Amesbury town clerk Thomas Macy circa 1649, this expansive plum-colored saltbox was sold to sawmill owner Anthony Colby in 1654 and remained in the Colby family for nine generations. Now a house museum open for private tours, Macy-Colby House earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

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Ecclesiastical enthusiasts can plug 49 Hollow Road into their GPS to navigate to the site of the election of the first American Episcopal bishop in 1783. The hallowed event was held in secret at this two-and-a-half-story wood-framed saltbox, occupied at the time by Woodbury rector Reverend John Rutgers Marshall and his wife, Sarah.

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A wedding gift to Jethro Coffin, the grandson of Nantucket proprietor Tristram Coffin, this one-and-a-half-story saltbox on Sunset Hill Road is the oldest home in Nantucket. Though there have been a few notable brushes with disaster—a fire in the 1860s and a lightning storm in 1987—the house has been restored and maintained by the Nantucket Historical Association, which acquired it in 1923. 

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This idyllic three-bedroom saltbox home, believed to be the oldest in Madison, was once a popular tavern frequented by travelers on the Boston Post Road. George Washington himself enjoyed lunch at the 2,241-square-foot property owned by the locally prominent Dudley family.

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This two-story saltbox in Norwich stands out from its bucolic surroundings both for its mustard-colored exterior and its rich past. Built in 1670, the 1,138-square-foot property on a lush two-acre lot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been so painstakingly maintained that it received the Preservation Award by the Historic District Commission in 1998.

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Stepping into this modern take on a colonial classic is like walking back in time. Its old-timey elements, including bay windows and a wood stove, belie the home's true age of only 32 years.

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