Dole-Little House


    Improve listing

Dole-Little House in Newbury, Massachusetts

Dole-Little House was built around 1715 with materials salvaged from an earlier structure. Its first owner was Richard Dole, a cattleman, who built a two-room, central-chimney house with a small kitchen shed at the rear. This shed has since been replaced with a larger lean-to. Decorative carpentry and finishes include chamfered edges, molded sheathing (especially in the hall and parlor), and possibly original stair balusters.

Acquired by Florence Evans Bushee in 1954, the house was subject to an extensive restoration. Workers discovered that new mortise and tenon joints and various other changes had been made to many of the salvaged framing members to allow them to conform to the plan of the "new" house.

The Parlor  of Dole-Little House in Newbury, Massachusetts

During restoration efforts, the lean-to was rebuilt with new timbers, and sash windows from the front of the house were reinstalled in the lean-to. Decorative paneling from one of the chambers was removed and reinstalled in the National Museum of History and Technology in Washington, D.C., while a reproduction of the paneling was installed in the chamber at Dole-Little House. Historic New England received the title to the house after Mrs. Bushee's death in 1975.

Open
2013 Schedule

June 1, free admission
October 5
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Tours on the hour. Last tour at 3:00 p.m.

The Dole-Little House is a Historic New England property.

 


Top photo: Dole-Little exterior - The Dole-Little House is located on the banks of the Parker River, near the site of the earliest Newbury settlement.

Bottom photo: Dole-Little parlor - The parlor fireplace is smaller than the hall fireplace, measuring only six feet. Hall fireplaces were often larger in houses with a hall/parlor plan, and more decorative. The corners of this fireplace are rounded in the back.