Captain George Buckmaster House   -   circa  1748

     The Captain George Buckmaster House is a four bay or three-quarter house, but not in the traditional sense: here the doorway is at the end of the front façade rather than within the façade.  Additionally, the chimney is located in a center position rather than the more common end location when the doorway is located in an end bay.

      Some feel this house may have started as a small half house or even a very early house similar to the Daniel Carr House at 20 Division Street.  Initial investigations revealed a very heavy timber frame with “gunstock” posts in the front section of the house. The “gunstock” (flared sections) had been cut away so that straight beaded casings could be applied.  The attic area clearly showed evidence of the building being widened from one room to two rooms deep. The basement had evidence of a massive end chimney supported on a brick arch base at the north end of the building.  All this would indicate that it is safe to date the earliest part of the building circa 1710.

      The building was probably enlarged when Buckmaster bought the property in 1748.  We believe he may have also enlarged the house again sometime after the Revolution.  Referring to the photo, if one looks at the façade, the spacing of the windows on the far right of the 1st & 2nd floors leave a wider gap between than the other windows.  This may indicate that this section was added, along with further additions to the rear, during Buckmaster's ownership.

     The practice of adding ‘modern style’ elements to existing structures was quite common in 18th century Newport and we see this in the Buckmaster House – an early building with details added later to affect  the style of the mid to late 18th century.

     The Captain George Buckmaster House is on its original site.  The house was purchased by NRF in 1969 and restored in 1972.