Massachusetts

Whipple House, 53 South Main Street, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts (Latitude 42.646563, Longitude -71.152219)

Primary Phase Felling dates: Summer 1676, Winter 1676/7

Addition Felling dates: Summer 1689, Winter 1689/90

The Whipple House, which faces south, began as a single cell house with chimney bay on the east end. The original house, built in 1677, was two-and-one-half stories in height and featured a facade gabble. In 1690, the house was enlarged by a substantial addition twenty-four feet in length east of the chimney that included a second facade gable. The crossed summer beams in the east room suggest that the room was partitioned along the transverse summer beam originally. The eastern part of the lean-to may have been constructed at the same time. On the east wall, both the main range and the lean-to were given hewn overhangs with substantial ogee moldings. The lean-to was later extended to the west and raised to two stories.

Captain John Whipple (1625-1683), the second of three John Whipples who were prominent and wealthy Ipswich residents, built the original part of the house. His son, Major John Whipple (1657-1722) constructed the eastern part of the house six years after he inherited the house from his father. The house was purchased by the Ipswich Historical Society in 1898. In 1928 the house was moved to its present site, where it serves as a house museum.

Miles, D H, Worthington, M J, and Grady, A A, 2002 "Development of Standard Tree-Ring Chronologies for Dating Historic Structures in Eastern Massachusetts Phase II", Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory unpublished report 2002/6

link to the Ipswich Museum page for the Whipple House here.

Oxford

Tree-Ring

Laboratory

The Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory provides cutting-edge commercial dendrochronological services to homeowners, architectural historians, and cultural resource managers. READ MORE

Contact Information

Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory

25 E. Montgomery St.
Baltimore, MD 21230

410-929-1520