Balch House
Is Balch House The Oldest Extant Home In Beverly, Massachusetts?
Allegedly built back in 1636, at 448 Cabot Street, Beverly Massachusetts, the Balch House is considered one of the oldest existing homes in the United States. However, some people still have doubts on whether or not it’s the oldest historic wood-frame house in the United States.
According to a report recently published by two English scientists, the Balch House in Beverly was built in 1679, but not 1636 as earlier stated by the Beverly Historical Society. This will definitely drop the House’s claim to national status.
Beverly Historical Society Hired Scientists
The Beverly Historical Society wanted to prove their claims after someone from Fairbanks House questioned the status of the Balch House as the oldest historic wood-frame house in the United States.
The Beverly Historical Society sought some kind of evidence and hired scientists from Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory for $3,500 to test the real age of the Balch House timbers.
Michael Worthington and Daniel Miles traveled to Beverly back in February 2006 and spent a day collecting samples from the House. The samples were then taken to their laboratory in England for testing.
According to the report, Balch House’s northern end was probably built around 1679, whereas the southern end was perhaps constructed during 1721. Since John Balch passed on in 1648, it is highly likely the northern end was built by his son Benjamin Balch Sr and Benjamin Balch III, who was Balch’s grandson, built the southern extension.
Who Owns Balch House?
Today, the Balch House is owned and operated by the Beverly Historical Society. When asked how they had concluded that the house was built in 1636, the Society stated that their claim was based on deeds. Records clearly show that John Balch and a few other settlers have been granted deeds for 200 acres in 1635.
How Old Is The Balch House?
Stephen Hall, the director of Beverly Historical Society still believes the results from the oxford lab aren’t conclusive and that the lab should conduct more tests with extra samples to find out the exact age of the house.
If the evidence that the Balch House was built in 1679, then it would mean the Fairbanks House is the new oldest house made of wood frame in the United States. According to evidence by the same oxford laboratory back in 2021, the Fairbanks timbers date to the winder of 1637 and 1638.
Whether or not Balch House is the oldest existing wood-frame house in the United States, it's still a special place in the history of the North Shore and Beverly.