Jeremiah Lee Mansion

The Jeremiah Lee Mansion is a historic house located at 161 Washington Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It is operated as a house museum by the local historical society. Built in 1768, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 as one of the finest Late Georgian houses in the United States. It features original wallpaper and finely-crafted woodwork.[2]

Jeremiah Lee House
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion
LocationMarblehead, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°30′12″N 70°51′6″W
Built1768
ArchitectUnknown
Architectural styleGeorgian
Part ofMarblehead Historic District (ID84002402[1])
NRHP reference No.66000766[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960
Designated CPJanuary 10, 1984

Description
Jeremiah Lee, oil on canvas, John Singleton Copley, 1769. Wadsworth Atheneum
Mrs. Jeremiah Lee, oil on canvas, John Singleton Copley, c. 1769. Wadsworth Atheneum

The mansion is a large wooden house in the Georgian style, with imitation stone ashlar facade, built in 1768 by Colonel Jeremiah Lee, at that time the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The facade may be based on Plate 11 of Robert Morris' influential patternbook Rural Architecture (London 1750; retitled Select Architecture in later eds.).[3] It was one of the largest and most opulent houses of the late-colonial period in America.

The mansion is now owned by the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society. It contains a notable collection of early American furniture, and many of the mansion's original decorative finishes have been preserved, including rare 18th-century English hand-painted wallpaper, intricate carving in the rococo style, and a grand entry hall and staircase paneled with mahogany. On either side of its landing are copies of the full-length portraits of Jeremiah and Martha Lee by John Singleton Copley.

The mansion was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.[1] In 1984 it was also included in the Marblehead Historic District.[4]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "NHL nomination for Jeremiah Lee House". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  3. The Center for Palladian Studies in America, Inc., "Palladio and Architectural Patternbooks in Colonial America" Archived 2009-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "MACRIS inventory record for Jeremiah Lee Mansion". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-01-17.


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