Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site

Cambridge, United States

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Located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this Georgian house built in 1759 has witnessed pivotal moments in American history and letters. Originally constructed for Jamaican plantation owner John Vassall Jr., it became the headquarters of General George Washington from July 1775 through April 1776 during the Siege of Boston. After the war, Andrew Craigie, Washington's Apothecary General, purchased the house in 1791 and oversaw its only major addition. The home later became the residence of renowned poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who lived there from 1843—when his father-in-law Nathan Appleton gave it as a wedding gift—until his death in 1882. The Longfellow family established a trust for its preservation in 1913, and the National Park Service assumed stewardship of the house and its furnishings in 1972. Now a National Historic Landmark open seasonally to the public, it stands as a well-preserved example of mid-Georgian architecture.

Movement

Georgian architecture

Built: 1759
Type: house, museum, National Historic Site
Heritage: National Register of Historic Places listed place, National Historic Landmark
Place: Cambridge, United States

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Location

42.37699, -71.12637