The oldest part of this timber-framed First Period house was built in 1718 by William Wilcomb. The interior features hand-hewn summer beams, wide plank flooring, and the original fireplaces.
The year 1699 witnessed the arrival in Ipswich of the three orphaned children of Zeccheus Willcomb, a fisherman living on the Isles of Shoals, who had died shortly before. They were William, Richard, and Deborah, born respectively in 1687, 1688, and 1690. On their arrival in Ipswich, Henry Spillar, a school teacher, was appointed as William’s guardian, and probably the other two children as well. In 1707, now about 20 years old, William married Charity Dodge. His brother, Richard, married Elizabeth Hodgkins. (Source: Genealogy of the Willcomb Family).
On the Neck, William Wilcomb operated a fishing stage (a building and platform for salting and drying fish). Nathaniel Knowlton sold about eighteen rods on the Lane to William Wilcomb on Jan. 4, 1717-18 (32: 291). No buildings were listed in the deed, and it is assumed that William Wilcomb began construction of the oldest part of this house soon after making the purchase. His wife Charity died in 1724. Shortly after, he married Rebecca Harris, who died on February 10, 1726. William died at age 39 on December 3, 1726, at the Isle of Shoals. Wilcomb’s son Joseph Wilcomb sold the house and land to John Hovey on Oct. 16, 1736 (71: 236).
Benjamin Pinder and his wife, Lydia Hovey, came into possession, and Benjamin conveyed it to his son Benjamin Jr., on March 31, 1801, and Dec. 30, 1802 (179: 280). The house was known into the 20th century as the Finder house. William Benjamin Pinder Sr. was a corporal with Col. Appleton’s company in the ill-fated 1756 expedition against the French at Louisburg, Nova Scotia, during the French and Indian War. The Pinder family (sometimes spelled Pender)was among the early residents of Ipswich. John Pinder Senior, John Pinder Junior, and Samuel Pinder were on the 1678 list of families having rights in the common lands. The 1718 John Pindar House still stands at 5 County Street.
The current owners added 800 square feet in 2005 with the saltbox conversion and the addition of gables.
Wilcomb-Pinder Cove Detail. With the existing soffit and fascia peeling away from this First Period house under the relentless weight of the season’s ice, it became time to engage in some overdue carpentry. Between storms, a surgical demolition revealed evidence of a previous coved cornice that we deemed worth recreating. A nearby precedent for a plaster soffit, deemed a sign of personal prosperity in Colonial times, exists a mere 100 yards away in the form of the Stephen Boardman house.
Sources:
- MACRIS
- Waters, Thomas: Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Vols. 1&2
- Willcomb Family of New England
Historic Ipswich 
I traced my husband’s ancestors back to Ipswich and some of them were Pinders so I was pleased to find that this still stands!
One more: https://historicipswich.net/5-county-street/
I am one of the Wilcomb relatives although my name is spelled as Wellcome. I visited the house in the 1990’s when it was a Museum. Now it is privately owned, my name is Joe Wellcome.