The Giddings-Burnham House, 43 Argilla Road (c. 1640-1680)

I’m frequently asked, “What’s the oldest house in Ipswich?” It’s not an easy question to answer. Dendrochronology (tree ring counting) showed that the earliest part of the Whipple House, which was thought to be the oldest house in town, dates to 1677, and the “1640 Hart House” was constructed about 1678.

The Merchant-Choate House by the High Street Bridge (sometimes called the Tuttle House) was determined by dendrochronology to have been constructed 1671-72, and may have within it boards from an even earlier settler’s home. Braces in the left-hand frame are trenched to receive studs, found only in the Fairbanks House in Dedham, whose dendrochronology dates to between 1637 and 1641.

The Shatswell Planter’s Cottage which was moved to Jeffreys Neck Road, may date to before 1646, according to architectural historian Sue Nelson.

Hidden partially out of view is another candidate for the oldest house in Ipswich. Carpenter George Giddings (1608-1676) emigrated from Norfolk, England in 1635 with his wife Jane Lawrence and became one of the wealthiest property owners in Ipswich. In 1667 he sold 12 acres on Argilla Rd. to his brother-in-law Thomas Burnham with “a dwelling house wherein the said Thomas does dwell.” Giddings moved to his new house in Chebacco Parish (now the town of Essex) which is also still standing.

Around 1680, the one-over-one house that Giddings sold to Burnham was doubled in size to resemble the post-medieval revival fashion of the day. But the older, western side with its flat-laid beams and joists, tusk tenons, wattle and daub infill, and 2-story studs has structural similarities with the Fairbanks House. To date, dendrochronology tests have not been done on the Shatswell Planter’s Cottage or the Giddings-Burnham House.

Read more about the Giddings-Burnham House at the Historic Ipswich site.