Today's "Old House" has actually been called that and is the most famous house in Quincy. The Adams Mansion, home of Presidents John and John Quincy Adams and their families, is also known as "Peacefield", a fitting name this time of year.
The oldest portion of the Adams Mansion was built in 1731 by Maj. Leonard Vassall, a wealthy West Indian sugar planter. It was acquired by John and Abigail Adams in 1787 after its loyalist owners had abandoned Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War. The house at that time consisted of only two low-ceiling rooms on the ground floor, two bedrooms, and an attic. Abigail Adams once wrote "it feels like a wren's nest."
During the subsequent 12 years, with John a resident in Philadelphia first as Vice President and then as President, Abigail Adams attended to the house and farm. She greatly expanded it, adding what is now the right side of the front facade, that you see here, with a fine hallway and large parlor on the ground floor and a large study above. The additions were built in the Georgian style with a gambrel roof creating a nearly full attic story.
The house was given by the Adams Memorial Society to the United States in 1946, and is now open to the public as part of the Adams National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service. I learned that the grounds are open year round and I have a couple more pictures of the grounds to share soon.
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