The Story
The Benjamin Nye Homestead at 85 Old County Road in Sandwich is an early Cape Cod dwelling believed to have been built in stages between about 1680 and 1816, evolving from a small hall-and-parlor cottage into a five-bay, two-and-a-half story house. It was home to descendants of Benjamin Nye (1620–ca. 1704), one of Sandwich's original settlers, for seven generations and was the site of the family's gristmill, which operated from about 1685 to 1867, and a later fulling mill. Restored beginning in 1959 by the Nye Family of America Association, the house now operates seasonally as a museum.
About this site
Nye, Benjamin Homestead is a landmark in Sandwich, 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 41.7288, -70.4314 near Sandwich. The nearest cataloged historic site is East Sandwich Grange Hall (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Jones, Oliver B. Mill - Grange Mill, Nye, Joseph III House, and Nye, Benjamin House - Tavern.
This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
History
The Benjamin Nye Homestead at 85 Old County Road in East Sandwich has its earliest portion, a 2.5-story timber-frame house, built about 1678 by Benjamin Nye, and it stayed in the hands of his descendants for most of the following centuries. Originally a saltbox with an integral lean-to, the house was later raised to a full two stories at the rear. Sold out of the family to the state in 1924 and threatened with demolition by 1962, it was rescued and restored by the Nye Family Association, which added it to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 and operates it as a house museum with 18th-century furnishings.
Sources: en.wikipedia.orgnyemuseum.org
Massachusetts