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Home built in 1641 was owned by one family for 228 years. See what it looks like today.


DUXBURY, Mass. Among the many significant and historic homes found in Duxbury, Massachusetts, the oldest is the Hunt House, originally a simple cottage-style building in the historic seaside town at 8 Hounds Ditch Lane. 

While it was built in 1641 by Edmund Hawes, it was sold shortly afterward to Edmond Hunt, whose family owned the Plymouth County house for 228 years.

Today, the home has been expanded to more than 3,400 square feet, with three bedrooms and three full baths. Still privately owned, it last changed hands in January 2022 for $1.25 million, according to Zillow.

According to Carolyn Ravenscroft, archivist and historian with The Duxbury Rural & Historical Society, in September 1641 Edmund Hawes exchanged 10 acres of land for 2,000 feet of sawn boards wood cut in a certain way from logs, often used in building. He built a home on the old Green’s Harbor Path, near Hounds Ditch.

Mayflower passengers relocate

It was around this time that several influential Mayflower passengers were moving to Duxbury from Plymouth. John Aden built a home not far from the Hunt House. Myles Standish and Elder William Bradford also settled in Duxbury, known at the time as “Duxborough” or “Duxborrow.”

Former Town Historian Dorothy Wentworth did an extensive study on the Hunt property. She pointed out at the time that in 1870 Lucy Hunt, widow of Barker Hunt, sold the property outside of the family to John R. Dellow. The home proceeded to go through several more owners, including the Briggs family who owned it for 35 years before selling it in 1906 to Alphens H. Walker.

Walker did not reside in the house; rather, he had it stripped to a bare interior and used it to store grain and tools, according to Wentworth.

Historic home had full restoration in 1960s

The house underwent a full restoration in 1962, when Robert H. Hose bought it along with an acre of land. The living space was enlarged with two additions that did not deter from the original style or design.

Among the more modern additions are a great room with large fireplace, a cathedral-ceiling kitchen and large basement with cedar closet and workshop.

"There are many old Colonial homes in Duxbury, but the age of the Hunt House and its meticulous preservation, make it stand out," Ravenscroft said. "It is a beautiful example of an early Colonial, or first period, house."