The widow Elizalieth Berry sold part of the Col. Thomas Berry homestead, abutting on Joseph Wilcom’s land, to Samuel Newman, Nov. 23, 1762 (120: 84). He built the house which descended to his heirs. In the 1832 map, it’s owned by William Newman. The 1872 and 1884 maps it was owned by David R. Harris, and in 1910, the owner was H. P. Sutton.
The present form of this house is composed of at least 3 structures, and in the attic are remnants of framing from an older structure. It started out as a colonial home with a center chimney and center entrance, and at some point, the left side was added. When a previous owner purchased the home in 1985, it had become a tenement and was suffering from years of neglect. Exterior renovations were largely completed in 1993. The landscaping was done in 2005-6, designed and installed by Dianna Pacella.
As with several houses on High Street, it is said to have once had a brick cistern in the yard, used for fighting fires by the early hand-pump “fire trucks.”
Sources:
Historic Ipswich 