Built 1720 Architectural style New England Saltbox Opened 1720 | Architect Unknown NRHP Reference # 74000372 Added to NRHP 3 December 1974 | |
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Location Braintree, Massachusetts Similar Pond Meadow Park, Thayer Public Library, Quincy Adams, Don Quijote Tours of, South Shore Plaza | ||
The Gen. Sylvanus Thayer House, also known as the Sylvanus Thayer Birthplace, is an historic house at 786 Washington Street in Braintree, Massachusetts. It is operated by the Braintree Historical Society as the Thayer House Museum, which is open year-round.
The 2-1/2 story wood frame house was built in 1720 by Nathaniel Thayer and was subsequently expanded in the 1760s and again in the 19th century. General Sylvanus Thayer, known as the "Father of West Point," was born in the house in 1785 and resided there until 1793. In 1958, the parcel of land on which the house sat was purchased by the Walworth Steel Company; rather than tearing the old house down, it was dismantled and moved approximately one mile down Washington Street to its present location. Roughly 60% of the timbers in the house are original, while the others have been replaced during restoration with materials appropriate to the late 18th century. The house is furnished to represent a middle-class agricultural household, like the Thayer family, in 1785-1793.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Braintree Historical Society constructed a reproduction post-and-beam dairy barn to complement the Thayer House Museum in that same year. Both contain exhibit galleries and are open to the public.
The "Big Gun" cannon located at the house is in very poor condition. One wheel has completely fallen off and the other is on its last stand. The Braintree Historical Society is working on repairing the cannon and its wheels before Braintree's 375th Anniversary.