The large brick garrison home at 350 Riverside Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts, today was built around 1683 by Captain Peter Tufts, Junior, the son of immigrant Peter Tufts, the patriarch of our Tufts family.
Pictures may be seen on our home page and reunion poster
Long thought to be the oldest brick house in America, it is on the Medford city shield. For many years it was called the Craddock house or Tufts-Craddock house, and historians and writers debated its exact origins. The best summary that I have found is in the Medford Historical Papers at the digital archives at the Tufts University site below:
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2005.05.0018%3Achapter%3D18
Tufts Kinsmen author Herbert Adams discusses the house in the story of Captain Peter Tufts, Junior, the son of immigrant Peter Tufts. The book details a previous brick house of Peter Tufts, the immigrant, on a site nearer the river. Peter Tufts, Junior, lived in the existing house first and later it was sold to other persons. It was extensively remodeled in the late 19th century to the point where only the bricks and main support beams are original.
The house was owned for 50 years (1930-1982) by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now known as Historic New England). The Medford Historical Society bought the house in1982 and recently sold it to a private party (2019). The Tufts Kinsmen Association was instrumental in the Society’s gaining possession of the house in 1982 through fundraising and other means. It is not open to the public, and visitors are asked to respect the owner’s privacy regarding any exterior pictures.
The Peter Tufts House is protected by covenants governed by Historic New England. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark.
Additional reading: