William Howard was born in 1634 and is believed to have married Tabitha, the daughter of his neighbor Robert Kinsman, about 1673. Nothing more is known about him, other than that his profession was making felt and felt hats. In 1679, he bought this lot from Daniel Rindge, with the 1638 home of Thomas Emerson possibly still standing on it. For many years, it was claimed that this house was built by the latter, who was the first Emerson to journey to the New World, and an ancestor of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He died in 1660.
Architectural evidence indicates, however, that the oldest part of this house, the left side, was built about 1680 after William Howard purchased the lot. The house has framed overhangs, a unique feature of the “post-medieval revival” era of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. When William Howard died in 1709, his son inherited the property, and it was at this time that the right side was added. The house stayed in the Howard family until 1769.
From 1891 to 1906, Arthur Wesley Dow and his wife, Minnie Pearson, ran the Ipswich Summer School of Art from this house. In the early 20th Century, it was obtained and restored by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now known as Historic New England. Today, the house is a private residence with a strict preservation agreement. In 2021, the Ipswich Historical Commission presented the Mary Conley Award for historic preservation to the owners.
Continue reading and view photos at https://historicipswich.net/41-turkey-shore-rd-howard-house/
Historic Ipswich 