Jeremiah Lee Mansion
Encyclopedia
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion (1768) is a nonprofit historic house museum located at 170 Washington Street, Marblehead, Massachusetts
. It is open during the warmer months; an admission fee is charged.
The mansion is a large wooden house in the Georgian
style, with imitation stone ashlar
facade, built in 1768 by Colonel Jeremiah Lee, at that time the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in Massachusetts
. The facade may be based on Plate 11 of Robert Morris' influential patternbook Rural Architecture (London 1750; retitled Select Architecture in later eds.). It was one of the largest and most opulent houses of the late-colonial period in America.
The mansion is now owned by the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society. It contains a notable collection of early American furniture, and many of the mansion's original decorative finishes have been preserved, including rare 18th-century English hand-painted wallpaper, intricate carving in the rococo style, and a grand entry hall and staircase paneled with mahogany. On either side of its landing are copies of the full-length portraits of Jeremiah and Martha Lee by John Singleton Copley
.
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,808 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Devereux Beach...
. It is open during the warmer months; an admission fee is charged.
The mansion is a large wooden house in the Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
style, with imitation stone ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
facade, built in 1768 by Colonel Jeremiah Lee, at that time the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. The facade may be based on Plate 11 of Robert Morris' influential patternbook Rural Architecture (London 1750; retitled Select Architecture in later eds.). It was one of the largest and most opulent houses of the late-colonial period in America.
The mansion is now owned by the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society. It contains a notable collection of early American furniture, and many of the mansion's original decorative finishes have been preserved, including rare 18th-century English hand-painted wallpaper, intricate carving in the rococo style, and a grand entry hall and staircase paneled with mahogany. On either side of its landing are copies of the full-length portraits of Jeremiah and Martha Lee by John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...
.