Known as the “Oldest House” the Coffin house is the oldest house on Nantucket that was built as a dwelling and stands on its original site. It was a 1686 wedding gift to blacksmith, Jethro Coffin, grandson of Tristram Coffin (one of the original white English settlers of the island in 1659-60), and Mary Gardner, daughter of Captain John Gardner, who had led the “Half-Share Revolt” against the proprietors.
The original owners needed to attract people with skills they didn’t have because not a one of them knew about boats and that’s not good for island life. Gardner was invited for his knowledge of cod fishing, but the proprietors treated the invitees as second-class citizens with only a half-vote in the government. Gardner led the appeal to the provincial government in New York (yup, Nantucket was once part of NY) that established town meeting government with equal votes to all property owners. It was a revolt, there was no bloodshed, but it was nasty.
It’s easy to imagine that neither family was thrilled when Jethro and Mary fell in love. But somehow the differences were smoothed over and the couple married in the house in 1686. John Gardner contributed the 1½-acre plot of land and Jethro’s father, Peter, who had a thriving lumber business, contributed the lumber.
It very unusual for a young couple to have their own home and not live with their parents. It was probably the biggest house on the island at the time. The classic saltbox structure faces south to take advantage of passive solar heat and to allow the north wind to glide over the roof. A formal parlor was reserved for Jethro’s business dealings and town meetings while most of daily life took place in one room with a big fireplace for cooking.
Life wasn’t easy - even in the biggest house in town. From December to February only one room had heat and firewood was in short supply. They probably had just two meals a day and in winter. Mary would have to prepare dinner for her husband and many children before dark descended around 4 p.m.
The family eventually moved to the mainland where Jethro helped run the family business. The house was sold in 1708 to a weaver. He and his descendants lived there until the 1840s, when they sold it to a cooper who ultimately abandoned the house in 1867. In 1881 descendants of Tristram Coffin purchased the property after seeing it in a dilapidated state during a family reunion, and in 1923 they sold it to the NHA. The house was restored at that time and again in 1987 after being severely damaged by a lightning strike.
Tours of the interior of the “Oldest House” are available for a fee for NHA non-members. For ticket and schedule info. visit: http://www.nha.org/hours/index.html
Fun Facts:
- Nantucket’s REAL oldest house is known as Auld Lang Syne and it is located in Sconset. (Can you find and upload a pic of it to the log?)
- Mary was known for having one blue eye and one green eye, but she was never suspected of being a witch (see the uploaded photo.)
- The nails adorning the front door of the house were considered an excessive decorative display of wealth ("Oh, look I have $ to waste nails!")
- The room next to the kicthen in this hostoric house is called the "birthing room" (yuck!)
- There is a trap door on the first floor that leads to a cool storage space (but they wouldn't let me hide the cache there.)
- The Coffin family still holds its reunuions on Nantucket (but I've never been invited to one.)
About the cache: This is an easy park and grab, bring a pen in case someone steals my pencil, and please re-close the small waterproof container securely. A person in a wheelchair can make their way through the flat lawn to the exact hiding spot, however the historic building is not disability friendly, but the historic garden is (during warm months.) This hiding spot originally was used in the 2nd part of the now retired two stage multi cache, “Old and New.” In the new logbook you will find a copy of the clue that the previous geocache stored which was needed to find the cache belonging to the now also retired “Nantucket Challenge” geocache.
Note: This cache is located at two Pokestops and a gym.