The Shirley-Eustis House

05/16/2019

Last Saturday's Preservation Month Open House brought lots of nice and interesting people to Shirley Place. Many thanks to all who visited and to all who volunteered as guides and event staff! Regular Saturday tours begin on June 1st.

05/16/2019

They're back! 2W Painting Inc. has returned. The Mansion is now sporting its first coat of new paint and is looking fresh and beautiful. A tad lighter in shade, the new yellow matches recently discovered early clapboards.

05/10/2019

Preservation Month Tour Day is almost here! Join us on Saturday May 11th for free tours of the Mansion at 11:00 am, noon and 1:00 p.m. Our Palladian beauty, which now also wears only the finest of Federal Era fabric, is waiting to be explored inside and out. Although extensively renovated during the Federal Period, many original Georgian features remain. In addition to the Parterre Garden door, they are most visible in the vestibule, Governor Shirley's office, Breakfast Room and 2nd floor rooms above these areas. The Federal elements are equally as exquisite. See you soon!

05/10/2019

In advance of Mother's Day...remembering our own Matriarchs! Lillian B. Titus was the first Secretary of SEHA. She helped found the organization in 1913 and in 1915 began work which led to the preservation of the structure for posterity. She credited the kindness of Caroline Langdon Eustis for her own passion for Shirley Place. As a child Lillie had attended teas at the Mansion hosted by Mrs. Eustis.

Among other key individuals, the MA Colonial Dames, Mary Caner and Lila Mehlman advanced Lillie's work. For many decades women governors, volunteers, donors and staff members have made invaluable contributions to the survival of both Shirley Place and SEHA. Thank you all!

Lillie B. Titus; S-EH c. 1915. Early preservation efforts.

05/09/2019

So far Saturday weather looking good for exploring our grounds before or after a free tour of the Mansion. In honor of Boston Preservation Month, The Shirley-Eustis House will welcome visitors at 11:00 am, noon and 1:00 p.m. on May 11th. Shirley Place officially opens for a summer of Saturday tours on June 1st! Visit our website for more details. www.shirleyeustishouse.org

05/09/2019

The Shirley-Eustis House's cover photo

05/02/2019

Only 10 more days before we open the Mansion on Saturday, May 11th, for free guided tours! Celebrate Boston Preservation Month at the Shirley-Eustis House. Visitors will be welcomed at 11:00 a.m., noon and 1:00 p.m. Our regular tour season begins on June 1st. Stay tuned for details.

04/16/2019

We are getting excited about the start of our tour season on June 1st. In the meantime visitors are finding their way to Shirley Place. The Harvard Extension School students seen in this photo celebrated Patriots' Day Weekend with a tour of Shirley Place with their Professor Bob Allison. Visit www.shirleyeustishouse.org/tours for more information about our schedule.

01/17/2019

It’s #winterpruning time! Thanks @landofplentyboston for braving the cold and taking great care of our historic orchards! #shirleyeustishouse #historicsite

01/01/2019

Thanks to our members, donors, volunteers, and followers for a great 2018! #happynewyear #shirleyeustishouse #2018bestnine

12/26/2018

The Shirley-Eustis House Association wishes you Happy Holidays and an even happier New Year! 🎄

12/09/2018

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Shirley-Eustis House! #SEHholidayparty #deckthehalls @ The Shirley-Eustis House

12/01/2018

Our dedicated governors, staff, and volunteers were hard at work today greening the Mansion for this year’s holiday festivities. Thank you to everyone who helped! The Mansion looks beautiful! #holidays #holidayseason #deckthehalls @ The Shirley-Eustis House

11/18/2018

We have reached 500 followers on Instagram!!

Thank you to all of our followers for supporting us as we continue to grow as a historic site serving the local Roxbury and Dorchester community and beyond. We look forward to what the future will bring!!

@shirley_eustishouse
#shirleyeustishouse

11/12/2018

It was a beautiful day to get gorgeous fall views of Boston and Dorchester Heights from the rooftop. 🍂#behindthescenes #rooftopviews #boston #dorchesterheights #fallfoilage @ The Shirley-Eustis House

11/09/2018

City of Boston

A great video on what Joe Bagley and the City of Boston Archaeology Program found at our historic site in early October!

The City of Boston Archaeology Program was at The Shirley-Eustis House in October, digging up hundreds of artifacts. Here's a look at what they found.

#BostonUncovered boston.gov/boston-uncovered

11/04/2018

Holding on to fall for as long as possible! 🍂 #leafpeeping #bostonfall #roxbury #historicsite #shirleyeustishouse

10/29/2018

1747 to the Present

We have a new blog, 1747 to the Present! In honor of Halloween week, check out our first post about mourning the loss of Lady Frances Shirley:
https://www.shirleyeustishouse.org/blog/

1747 to the Present A History Blog for the Shirley-Eustis House Association.

10/23/2018

We found a key in the Watkins Collection! No, this key doesn’t open up a treasure chest or a secret door. But it was a valuable tool when rope beds were popular. Rope beds, including the Eustis four poster bed, were popular from the 16th century all the way to the 1800s. The woven ropes would loosen over a few nights sleep so a key, or wooden straining wrench, like this would be used to tighten the bed. Sleep tight!

10/18/2018

The next step of the archaeological dig is underway!

An archaeological dig is only as good as the data collected! Here are our drawn plans and profiles of the five trenches we dug at the @shirleyeustis house. The artifacts we excavated can be seen in the background bagged by their provenience (horizontal and vertical location in the ground). Time to wash and analyze the artifacts, digitize our drawings, organize our digital photos, and write the archaeological report! #archaeology #boston #history #science

10/17/2018

We are so delighted and honored to have City of Boston Archaeology Program spend the last three weeks at our historic site. They brought so much energy and curiosity about our mansion and history. The rainy weather didn’t stop this dedicated team and we’ve already learned so much more about our historic site! Looking forward to what the future will bring! #digbos #digesh #digrox #archaeology #historicsite

10/11/2018

Creating the history of historic houses takes some detective work. Often times you have piece together clues from archaeological digs, architectural artifacts, and historic photographs. Here is an 1895 photograph of the Shirley-Eustis House from Historic New England, parts of a window found in our attic, and a picture a stone wall recently taken and dug up by the City of Boston Archaeology Program . Can you put together the pieces of this puzzle? #historymysteries #historicsite #archaeology #architecture #oldphotos #publichistory

10/10/2018

Look at our shed/privy!!!!!

The foundation wall of the shed/privy is looking very distinct (and wide) at 70cm down in the ground at the @shirley_eustishouse #digBOS #digSEH #digROX #archaeology #boston #roxbury #history

10/10/2018

#preservationinprogress
Please excuse our appearance at the moment. The painters are working on giving our exterior a face lift. Thank you to our members and donors who made this much-needed restoration possible!

10/10/2018

City of Boston Archaeology Program

City of Boston Archaeology Program

Read about our dig at The Shirley-Eustis House in the Globe!

10/09/2018

Absolutely amazing 360 image of our gorgeous maple tree captured by HistoryView VR!! 🍁🍁🍁

10/05/2018

This morning Joe Bagley and the City of Boston Archaeology Program showed BC High students around the archaeological dig site. It’s so great to see so many faces light up from history and archaeology! #shirleyeustishouse #digseh #digrox #digbos

10/04/2018

British soldiers’ landing in Boston Harbor will be reenacted to mark 250th anniversary - The Boston Globe

Exciting events are happening in Boston this weekend! Thank you to everyone who have helped make all the Rev250 programs happen- including some of our own members of the Shirley-Eustis House Association!

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/10/04/anniversary-british-soldiers-landing-boston-harbor-will-enacted-this-weekend/PoArWzLVtpQDuUiBAyPlII/story.html?event=event25

A troupe of about 150 Redcoat reenactors will land in Boston Harbor on Saturday to commemorate the 250th anniversary of their arrival.

10/03/2018

If at first you can’t succeed, try, try again!

After a nearly sterile (~4 artifacts total) 4-meter trench, we believe we were in sterile subsoil, not sterile foundation fill. Oh well, house must have been somewhere else! We'll try in another area later in the dig. Next trench (lower orange rectangle) is where we think a privy may have been #digBOS #digSEH #digROX #archaeology #boston #roxbury #history

10/03/2018

TOUR UPDATE:

Our beautiful maple tree is in full fall mode! Feel free to take in the fall foliage at our historic site while checking out the City of Boston Archaeology Program working on the archeological dig!
🍁🍁🍁
Starting this FRIDAY, come learn more about the evolution of our beautiful Governor’s mansion and why it was moved in 1867!‬ We will be offering TOURS on Friday’s at 11:00am throughout the duration of the dig. ‪

$8 for adults/$5 for seniors & students

10/02/2018

City of Boston Archaeology Program

We are still working our way through late fill at the @shirley_eustishouse. Just found this plastic clothes pin. Says patent and possibly "MASTRO". Anyone want to help find a date on this for us? #mysteryartifact.
.
#digBOS #digSEH #digROX #archaeology #boston #roxbury #history

10/02/2018

The City of Boston Archaeology Program has been hard at work on a rainy day two of the archeological dig. Be sure to follow them on social media for live updates! #digBOs #digSEH #digROX #shirleyeustishouse

09/25/2018

We’re not letting today’s rain get in the way of our excitement for next week’s start of the archaeological dig with the City of Boston Archaeology Program!

09/25/2018

Part of the Dorchester Brook is now Rockford Street, the road between the Mansion and Carriage House on our historic site. That also means the Carriage House is technically in Dorchester while the Mansion is in Roxbury!

Be sure to follow the City of Boston Archaeology Program ‘s page for more fascinating facts about our historic site and updates relating to the up-coming archaeological dig!

In the 17th century, the Dorchester Brook (today filled) formed the boundary line between Roxbury and Dorchester. A few scattered farms were built near the Shirley-Eustis in the 1600s and early 1700s, possibly somewhere on the current property.

Our Shirley-Eustis House dig will begin October 1 and last 2-3 weeks. Follow along as we uncover new insights into Roxbury's 18th and 19th century history #DigROX #DigSEH #DigBOS

09/24/2018

We are SO EXCITED to finally reveal there will be an archeological dig happening at our site starting October 1st! Stay tuned for more details!

Dig Alert! Starting Monday October 1, we will begin a ~2 week long dig at the Shirley-Eustis House in #Roxbury! We will be posting background history on the site and our dig plans to get everyone ready for the dig. We will be releasing volunteer opportunities tonight, Monday, September 24, at 7:00 PM via our email newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter, enter your email at http://ow.ly/tvD130lUhTu

09/20/2018

We are absolutely in love with our new string lights for the Carriage House! #bostonvenues #weddingvenues

09/12/2018

#didyouknow this window once led to a grand piazza (like a porch) during the Governor William and Caroline Eustis years? The window opened from the bottom and you could walk onto the piazza that overlooked the canal (now Rockford Street) and orchards. The piazzas were removed when the mansion moved about thirty feet in the 1860s in order to build Shirley Street.

09/12/2018

Great post from the Boston Landmarks Commission about remaining Georgian style structures in the Boston area. The story of the Shirley-Eustis House goes beyond the Georgian period, but you can still see the original architectural elements throughout the interior and exterior of the house.

Today we focus on the Georgian style of architecture which gets its name from the succession of English kings named George (beginning in 1715), and spans the period of the beginning of the reign of King George I in 1714 to the end of the War for Independence with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Georgian architecture was at its most popular in the United States through most of the 18th century, as the dominant style for domestic construction. The Georgian style grew from heavy influence received from the Italian Renaissance, particularly the Ten Books of Architecture written by Vitruvius in the first century, BC which formed the basis for buildings built in Italy during the Renaissance designed by Vignola, Serlio and Palladio.

The United States took the Georgian style, and put their own spin on the styles, integrating variations on the style such as including symmetrical, two-story housing with a center-entry façade, combined with the two-room-deep center-passage floor plan. Stone and brick were the most common materials used for Georgian buildings in England, while in New England wood, sometimes carved and covered with paint mixed with sand to emulate masonry was the norm. Symmetrically ordered facades with central entryways with paneled doors, double-hung sash windows aligned in horizontally and vertically in rows with small panes of glass are identifying features of this style. One of the earliest examples of the Georgian style in America was the Foster-Hutchinson House built in 1686 (demolished in 1832) in Boston's North End in the area of present day Garden Court Street. Surviving examples in Boston open to the public include The Shirley-Eustis House (built 1747) in Roxbury and the Loring-Greenough House (built 1760) in Jamaica Plain.

08/11/2018

William Shirley at King’s Chapel!

#OnThisDay in 1749, King's Chapel's first stone was laid. During his oration for the occasion, Reverend Henry Caner honored colonial Governor William Shirley, who would be entombed in the church crypt 22 years later. The cornerstone, placed in the northeast corner of the plot, contained a Latin inscription that mentioned Shirley.

08/09/2018

Dear Friends of the Shirley-Eustis House Association,

Our summer open house tour season has now come to a close. While we may no longer be open Thursday through Sunday for the rest of the year, our doors are still open by appointment for those interested in learning about our history and exploring our beautiful mansion. Our apologies for any inconvenience, but we hope you will continue to follow us to learn of exciting opportunities in the near future. You are also always welcome to explore our orchards and grounds year-round from dawn until dusk.

Thank you!

07/03/2018

You know it’s summer when it’s 90 degrees outside and the cherries are ripe. Feel free to stop by our orchards and try some! 🍒#cherries #cherrypicking #historicsites #roxbury

07/01/2018

15 historic local sites that aren’t on the Freedom Trail

We are listed as one of the "15 historic local sites that aren't on the Freedom Trail!" Thanks to our friend and Suffolk University history professor Bob Allison for including us. You can visit us this summer Thursday-Sunday from 1-4pm. https://www.boston.com/culture/history/2018/06/29/15-historic-local-sites-that-arent-on-the-freedom-trail?event=event51

A Boston historian shares his picks.

06/30/2018

The Black Cotton Club have hosted their lively Friday evening gatherings showcasing local talent in our Carriage House since last September. Check them out and we hope to see you at this community event in the future!

06/29/2018

The @blackcottonclub is rocking in full swing at the Carriage House this evening. Happy Friday!

06/22/2018

Roxbury International Film Festival

Hope to see you this Saturday!

Remember this scene from #Martin?

Join us for a conversation with the one and only (born and raised in Boston!), Topper Carew! Topper Carew is an award-winning screenwriter, film director, television writer and producer, and the creator of the beloved show, Martin TV!

Saturday 6/23
11AM | The Shirley-Eustis House, 33 Shirley St.

Tickets: RoxFilm20: Coffee + Conversation with Topper Carew
#RoxFilm20