Avant House

The Avant House (also known as the Wampanoag Indian Museum and Timothy Pocknet Homestead) on State Route 130 at Mill Pond in Mashpee is a 1 1/2-story Half Cape dwelling clad in weathered cedar shingles, built c. 1830. It is one of the earliest surviving residential structures in Mashpee and one of the town's only early Half Cape houses, built during a period when wigwams were still common in the area and following the 1834 creation of the Indian District of Mashpee. Its succession of owners—believed to begin with Captain John Phinney—represented the variety of ethnic groups and trades in the community, and from 1863 until his death in 1888 it was owned by Timothy Pocknet, a locally prominent Wampanoag. The building was renovated in the early 1970s and opened as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum in 1973. It is listed locally under Criteria A, B, and C for architecture, community development, and Native American ethnic heritage.

Avant House is a landmark in Mashpee, Barnstable County. It is one of 6,558 landmarks documented in Barnstable County, among 6,897 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.

The site sits at 41.6493, -70.4860 near Mashpee. The nearest cataloged historic site is Mashpee Methodist Church Parsonage (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Main Street Herring Run, Main Street Cranberry Bog, and House at 442 Main St.

This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.