The Floating House: A Forgotten Mystery Home from Yarmouth Port, MA

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The Floating House: A Forgotten Mystery Home from Yarmouth Port, MA

A Coin That Unraveled the Mystery to this Forgotten Home

The "1721" House

In Yarmouth Port, MA there were many homes that were built in the Mid- Eighteenth Century, but this particular house that was built in 1721 was considered a mystery till a married couple in 1995 moved into this house which is presently located in Dennisport, MA. They noticed at the front door that there was an old mill stone in which clearly carved "D. Thatcher Jur. 1790." The plot began to thicken, because there were no Thatchers in the Dennisport area in the Eighteenth Century. The house was moved in 1926 by Mrs. Helen S. Juliet Williams to Dennisport. The house was floated down the Bass River from Yarmouth to Dennisport.

The house was originally located near the Anthony Thatcher Monument at the end of Church Street in Yarmouth. The house was at the corner of Church and George Street, which is presently Thatcher Shore Road. You can find the house presently located on the corner of Chase Ave and Inman Road Dennisport, MA.

The big mystery that lies to this house is the exact date to when it was built. Interestingly enough a clue was found in the chimney, a coin that was dated 1721 when the house was moved. No one was quite sure who had built the house, it was said that it was sold to Helen Juilett Williams by J. Gordon Hallet who was the son of James G. Hallet. This particular property was known as the Custis Estate, David Thatcher Jr. sold the property to Custis in 1803. But after further research it was found that, David Thatcher did not build this house that it was probably built by his uncles, Williams or John Thatcher.

There was said in the register that there were revolutionary paintings that were painted in the house as a tradition. The current residents in 1995 had noticed that the paintings described were located on the paneling above the large fireplace. Inside the keeping room, there is a fireplace and a bread oven, there are faint paintings that depict food inside this room on the walls and doors. The kitchen of the house was once a store that was probably run by David Thatcher and later by other owners. Today the house still stands nearly 300 years later, but there will still be the mystery of the "1721 House" and what that date represented.

Rowsec@franklinpierce.edu

Caitlyn A. Rowse