John Whipple House

 museum, house, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 17th century construction, Saltbox (architecture), U.S. National Historic Landmark

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The John Whipple House was built in three stages between the mid-1600s to the early 1700s. The Whipple family occupied the house for six generations. Like many settlers of Ipswich, John Whipple arrived from England shortly before 1638. From a family of prominent textile merchants, Whipple was a man of considerable standing in Ipswich. Retaining much of its original oak, pine and chestnut framework and furnished with a number of exceptional Massachusetts pieces from the Colonial Period, the Whipple House offers a revealing look at the domestic surroundings that were familiar to early New England colonists of means.

Built around 1655, the original form of Whipple's residence was called a "half house" and followed the typical East Anglican house plan - timber framed buildings that were typically built in the English region from which Whipple originated. Traditional English buildings of 17th century Massachusetts were works of art, deriving their stability from the craftmens' skill.

www.essexheritage.org/sites/whipple_house.shtml