The David Tilden House
at Pequitside Farm

 

History & Technical Support

The David Tilden House at Pequitside Farm has been a part of our heritage for almost three-hundred years. Step back three centuries to the wilderness of Dorchester. A young settler from Scituate begins to build a home for his wife in the wilds of the Ponkapoag Plantation, along Pequit Brook.

Portions of the homestead were built as early as 1709 and the main structure was largely constructed in 1725. This historic site still stands on the original tract of land deeded to David Tilden by the Ponkapoag Indians.

Architectural Importance

There are only three hundred first period (pre 1725) dwellings surviving in the Commonwealth. The Tilden House is a rare survivor that encapsulates a first period room within its north elevation. This remarkable room includes heavy bevel chamfered detail return with lamb's tongue chamfer stops.

The south elevation interior rooms contain significant raised field panels in the Georgian Style, and small quirk bead sheathing in the Federal Style.

Overall, the setting, resting on a small knoll overlooking the meadows of the Pequit Brook make this view one of the rare untouched and preserved Colonial views in Massachusetts. The view from the door at the Tilden House is almost exactly as David Tilden would have seen it 275 years ago.

We invite you to discover more about the architectural and historical significance of The David Tilden House and the people who have lived there. Below you will find a series of links and documents that are the product of more than thirty years of research and scholarly preservation work.

Some of the files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.