 Click image for more information  The Robert and Anne Pierce House on Oakton Avenue (formerly Oak Avenue) was built in 1683 and remained in possession of the same family until 1968 when SPNEA acquired the house. It remained as a research facility only until 2002 when the Society began to develop cooperative programs with the school across the street. SPNEA restored much of the building in 2002 and 2003 including restoring the exterior to its 1930s incarnation.
On the inside much of the original structure of the building is visible. The original portion exhibits the influence of East Anglian construction techniques, i.e., it's framing is similar to that of 17th-century houses in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex regions of England. By 1712 the house had been expanded to the west. In the second half of the 18th century, Colonel Samuel Pierce (1736-1815) further enlarged it by extending the house and lean-to toward the east. Interior finishes include Georgian paneling and molded trim.
The Pierces were farmers well into the 19th century. Many of the Pierces then became brick masons. Like many other land-owners Lewis Pierce (1786-1874) and his sons subdivided and developed their farm into suburban house lots, building houses for sale to others.
For further information, see:
The Framed houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725, by Abbot Lowell Cummings. Cambridge, 1979.
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