Pierce House

Had the chance to catch one of only 4 days that this historic site is open per year. It was really interesting as one of the earliest surviving houses in Boston. It’s owned by Historic New England and they seem to do a good job with limited funding. It would be nice if it was open to the public (other than schoolchildren) more often, but I’m sure it’s a money issue.
Anyway, we had a very enlightening tour at the Pierce House. The passion the staff have for the house is obvious. They do an excellent job explaining the shifts in the house as it was expanded over time. I like that they don’t go overboard ‘restoring’ everything in site. It’s clear that the house is, or at least was, a living thing that grew with its occupants. I hope they continue being able to preserve this site and restore things like the dairy it contains.
The only thing I will say is that since they are only open 4 days a year, they seem to have a lot of pent up energy and information. Our tour was a bit long and super intense! It was like a deluge of information and we were drowning in it. While I can fully appreciate their investment in the site, I think they could work on giving a bit more streamlined tour and then maybe allowing people questions for some of the finer points. I learned more about joinery that I thought possible.…
Pierce house is worth stopping by if you’re in the area (check the website for the rare tour). It’s really an important piece of surviving Boston history.