Browne House

Abraham Browne House

The Abraham Browne House, Watertown, Massachusetts
Location 562 Main St.
Watertown, Massachusetts
MPS First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
NRHP Reference # 90000186
Added to NRHP March 9, 1990

The Abraham Browne House (built c. 1694–1701) is a colonial house located at 562 Main Street, Watertown, Massachusetts, US. It is now a nonprofit museum operated by Historic New England and open to the public two afternoons per year.

The house was originally a modest one-over-one dwelling, probably with a minor dependency to one side. It has grown by a series of enlargements but they occurred behind the original block, thus preserving the profile of the one-over-one elevation. (The exception, a 19th-century addition, was removed before 1919). The Browne House is one of fewer than a half-dozen houses in New England to retain this profile.

By 1919 the house was nearly ruined when it was acquired by William Sumner Appleton, who in 1923 donated it to the nonprofit organization now known as Historic New England. It was then painstakingly restored in the first fully documented restoration in America. The Abraham Browne house was featured on PBS's This Old House television program while they were in Watertown for a restoration project during their 20th anniversary season. The house is open for tours twice a year.

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Coordinates: 42°22′19″N 71°11′59″W / 42.37187°N 71.19982°W / 42.37187; -71.19982

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