The Benjamin Cole House is a historic house in
Swansea, Massachusetts
Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts, United States.
It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,14 ...
, United States. Built in 1690, this house is the oldest documented building in Swansea.
Description and history
The Cole house is set on the south side of Old Warren Road, a historic early road through what is now southwestern Swansea. It is a -story, wood-framed structure, five bays wide, with a side
gable roof
A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof c ...
and a large central chimney. The exterior has Federal-period styling (probably added in the late 18th century), and an ell, built c. 1850, extends to the rear of the main block. The main entrance is set in a projecting hip-roofed vestibule, which is decorated with corner pilasters. Outbuildings of the property include a barn (c. 1890) and garage (c. 1950).
[
Benjamin Cole, who built the house, was the grandson of James Cole, who was the first of the Coles to come to North America, and for whom ]Cole's Hill
Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Ply ...
in Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
is named. It continued to be the center of a major farmstead into the 20th century, operated for many years by the Wilbur family.National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
on February 16, 1990.
See also
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References
Houses completed in 1701
Houses in Swansea, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts
1701 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
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