Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum

Writer Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849-June 24, 1909) was born in her grandparents’ eighteenth-century house. She lived there with her family until 1854, when they built a Greek Revival house next door. As Sarah gained attention as an author, she and her family lived in the two Portland Street homes in the center of town.

Jewett and her older sister Mary inherited their grandparents’ house, now a National Historic Landmark, in 1887. It inspired Jewett’s novel Deephaven.

Today, Sarah’s beloved home is Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum. It reflects not only the sisters’ eclectic tastes and their desire to preserve family’s tradition, marrying Georgian architecture with Aesthetic Style; the house also reflects the life, work, and passion of Sarah, who created a life of artistic and literal freedom for herself in Victorian America. The Greek Revival house next door is a visitor center incorporating a museum shop and programming space.