The house at 37 High St. is believed to have been built by Robert Lord IV or Samuel Lord about 1725. A house stood on this lot before April 11, 1682, when Abraham Perkins sold the property, “in consideration of sixty pounds,” to Robert Lord, Sr. (Robert Lord II). The sale included “my dwelling house, barn, etc., and three and three-quarters acres of land, which I lately purchased of Robert Collins of Haverhill,” and was bounded by Simon Stacy on the west and John Caldwell on the east. (15: 115).
The home of Robert Lord Sr. was nearby on the east side of High Street, and the home of Robert Lord II is on the west side, still standing. He died in 1693 at age 80 and never lived in this house. His will, probated in 1683, bequeathed that property “to my youngest son, Nathaniel, my dwelling, barn, land with the close I purchased of Thomas Lull, which lieth on the other side of ye street.” Regarding this house, Robert Lord Sr. wrote, “Whereas I am out £40 for ye house I bought of Abraham Perkins, my will is that my grandchild, Robert Lord, Tertius, paying of £40 to me or my heirs, shall have said house, in which sd Robert now dwells (Pro. Rec. 304: 16, 18).
The actual construction date of the house is unknown. The balanced facade and two-bay depth, if original, indicate it was constructed after 1725. It retains excellent circa 1720 paneling, as well as a 17th-century lintel in the kitchen fireplace. The property continued in the Lord family until after Samuel Lord, the son of Nathaniel, died in December 1772. In 1775, Samuel Lord IV, a tanner, his wife Sarah (Sweet), and “all the heirs of Samuel Lord, late of Ipswich, blacksmith,” sold the “homestead” for £30 to Samuel Baker. (140:40). The 1832, 1856, and 1872 Ipswich maps show the house owned by a member of the Baker family.
Lord-Baker House, 37 High Street Preservation Agreement
This house is protected by a preservation agreement between the owners and the Ipswich Historical Commission. High-37-lord-baker-house-preservation-agreement
Protected elements include:
- Exterior front and two end gables
- Central frame including primary and secondary members
- Central Chimney
- Wooden architectural elements in the front hall and stairway, two front first-floor rooms, and two front second-floor rooms of the original building.
SOURCES:
- Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Vol. I: 1633-1700, published in 1905
- MACRIS
- Vital Records of Ipswich, MA
Historic Ipswich 
Robert Lord arrived with the first settlers of Ipswich in late 1634 or early 1635, probably from Sudbury, Suffolk, England, where he was born in 1603. Soon after his arrival, Robert Lord was appointed Ipswich Town Clerk and Clerk of the Court of Ipswich and held those posts until his death in 1683. Robert Lord married Mary /Waite/ on 11 Nov., 1630 at Finchingfield, Essex, England. They arrived in Ipswich with four children and had five more children here.
Hello. I’m with the Ipswich Society in the Suffolk England. I’m wondering if there is a connection between the Lord family who built the house in your article and a prominent businessman from Ipswich history, Isaac Lord. Possibly not as IL was Jewish but….