Images of Jethro Coffin House
This museum is closed temporarily.
Jethro Coffin House and its collection
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The Jethro Coffin House, also known as the Oldest House, is a historic residence located on the island of Nantucket in the state of Massachusetts, United States. It was registered as a National Historic Landmark in the National Register of Historic Places in 1968 and is currently operated as a museum by the Nantucket Historical Association.
Architectural Style of Jethro Coffin House
The Jethro Coffin House was built as a so-called Saltbox, a traditional New England style of house with a long, pitched roof that slopes down to the back. The house features one and a half floors built around a central fireplace. The roof is covered with wooden shingles, which also serve as the exterior wall cladding.
Preservation and Significance of Jethro Coffin House
The Jethro Coffin House is one of the best-preserved Saltbox houses from the 17th century in all of New England and is the only one of its kind on Nantucket. Despite undergoing significant structural changes during extensive reconstruction work in 1927, it still serves as a textbook example of what a Saltbox looked like.
ENOldest House
History & Anthropology Historic house