John Adams Birthplace

Description

The John Adams Birthplace is a historic house at 133 Franklin Street in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is the saltbox home in which the second President of the United States, John Adams, was born in 1735. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now administered by the National Park Service as part of the Adams National Historical Park, and is open for guided tours.Description and early historyThe house is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, sheathed in wooden clapboards. There are two main rooms, one on either side of a central chimney, on each of the two floors, and there are two further rooms in the lean to section on the first floor. The main facade is three bays wide with the entry in the center. The doorway is framed by pilasters and topped by an entablature and triangular pediment.The land on which the house sits was first owned by William Needham, who built a house on the property c. 1650. According to dendrochronological analysis, "the front part of the (present) house was built in 1722, or shortly thereafter by Deacon John Adams. President John Adams refers to the fact that his father built the house in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush of July 19, 1812. The framing of the east side incorporates a number of reused timbers dating to the 1670s." John, the oldest son of Deacon John Adams, Sr., was born in the east room in 1735.