Washburn - Swift - Carver House
8 Laurel St
1750
Architectural Style
Colonial
Significance
Architecture
Use Type
Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
This 1 1/2 story, center plan Cape Cod cottage apparently dates to the mid 18th century. Possessing a compact rectangular plan, rather than the more elongated rectangular form of the 18th century, this cottage is presently clad with wood shingles. Its 5 bay main facade features a batten front door with a 5 pane transom. In general, windows contain 12/12 wood sash. The wide and low center brick chimney alludes to a pre-1800 construction date.
Historical Significance
Built c. mid 18th century, this cottage is difficult to date due to the popularity of Cape Cod cottages (early 18th-mid 19th century) and the many Washburn listings at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds—an L. Washburn owned this dwelling in 1830. It belonged to a Mrs. Washburn during the 1850s and was the property of Van R. Swift by the 1870s. Van R. Swift Sr., the turnpike builder, farmer, town office holder and Swift family patriarch during the 19th c. lived for many years at 462 Summer St.—around the corner to the north. Presumably his son Van R. Swift, Jr., lived here. The younger Swift was an engineer at the Henry Perkins Iron foundry. During the mid-19th c. several houses in the Laurel-Summer St. area belonged to Swift family members. By the early 1900s, Francis Carver, farmer, lived here. He also owned #36 Laurel.