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The Winslow-Warren House
 The
fine, weather boarded gambrel house on the corner of Main and North Streets in
Plymouth, Massachusetts is one of the most significant houses in early American
history. The house was originally constructed in 1726 by British General John
Winslow (1703-1774). General John Winslow was the great grandson of Edward
Winslow, the famous Diplomat of the Pilgrims. Edward Winslow sailed to the
colony of Massachusetts on The Mayflower and served three terms as Governor of
the colony. General Winslow is renowned as one of the most distinguished
military leaders of his time in New England. He served the British Crown in the
1740's in an expedition against Spanish Cuba and was involved in the British
seizure of the French Fort at Louisburg in 1745. He also led an expedition
against the French in Maine in 1754. He is, however, primarily remembered as
being the British officer in charge of the Evacuation of the Acadians from Nova
Scotia. His portrait, painted by Joseph Blackburn, hangs in Pilgrim Hall in
Plymouth. The house and its occupants represent the split in the British Empire
that occurred towards the end of the 18th century.
In 1757 James Warren and his wife, Mercy Otis
(sister of the famous Colonial Jurist, James Otis of Barnstable) moved into the
house. The Warrens were among the leading Patriots of the Revolutionary era.
While residing at the house James Warren was elected from Plymouth as a member
of the House of Representatives. According to Mercy Otis Warren's History of the
Rise and Progress and Termination of the American Revolution (Boston, 1805),
which was written in the North Street house, James Warren (an attorney) and
patriot Samuel Adams hatched the idea of the Revolutionary Committee of
Correspondence to inform other colonies of colonial reactions to British
violations of the Constitutional Rights of American Colonists. It is more than
likely that these important American Revolutionary History discussions took
place in the Winslow-Warren House. Author Nancy Rubin Stuart asserts that James
and Mercy often hosted meetings with John and Samuel Adams and other Sons of
Liberty at their fireside in the house during the tumultuous years leading to
the American Revolution.
 In
1773, in this house, Mrs. Otis Warren wrote the satiric drama, The Adulator. One
year later James Warren, still a resident of the North Street house, was elected
a member of the First Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. On June 19, 1775,
after the battles of Lexington and Concord, he was elected President of the
Provincial Congress. In March of 1790, while a resident in the house, Mercy Otis
Warren wrote and published her much acclaimed book of Poems Dramatic and
Miscellaneous. It was also from this house that she carried on her famous
correspondence with President John Adams and Abigail Adams, Samuel Adams, John
Dickinson, James Otis, Generals Henry Knox and Benjamin Lincoln, among many
other luminaries of the Revolutionary era. James Warren and Mercy Otis Warren's
portraits were painted by the preeminent American portrait artist of the time,
John Singleton Copley. They hang today in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The Winslow-Warren house was built at the height
of the influence of the great British architect, Sir Christopher Wren, on
American architecture. Although time has eclipsed virtually all of the interior
architectural features of the house, the fine wainscoted paneling in the
staircase hall ascending to the second floor remains as a tribute to the lasting
taste and quality of an era long past. The recent interior hall renovations
maintained the original wainscoting while complimenting it with Colonial period
style and fixtures. The pitched gable ended roof (gambrel) is also testament to
features peculiar to the Colonial version of the Wren-Baroque influence. The
main exterior outlines of the house have withstood the pressures of modernity
surrounding it and continue to represent a glorious era of American history.
Today this historically significant structure
houses "Ishtar's Avalon" (a unique spiritual gift and services shop) and "The
Cornerstone Cafe" (a delightful family owned and operated breakfast and lunch
restaurant with excellent food and friendly service) on the street level and the
Law Office of Harold F. Moody, Jr., P.C. on the second floor. The Trust which
owns the structure intends to further celebrate its history with future "period"
renovations and updates. The Winslow-Warren House is a treasure of a building
with an important American Revolutionary Colonial history located in the cradle
of historic downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts just steps from the home of the
Pilgrims. |