Sarah Orne Jewett House

Discover

Sarah Orne Jewett House in South Berwick brings a writer's life into view through rooms that combine family continuity with deliberate personal choices. The Georgian house dates to 1774, and Jewett was born here in 1849. It later became a setting in her first novel, Deephaven. A guided visit offers a way to connect the author with the spaces she knew, while the neighboring Greek Revival house serves as a visitor center. Start with that pair of buildings: together they frame a history of family life, independent work and preservation.

Jewett's relationship with this house changed over time. After her early childhood here, her immediate family moved next door. In 1887, Sarah and her older sister Mary inherited their grandparents' home and shaped it for their own use. The rooms therefore preserve more than an eighteenth-century architectural shell. They also express the sisters' tastes, including a willingness to combine older family belongings with a striking decorative scheme. On the tour, notice how a room can carry several generations of decisions without needing to look as if everything arrived at once.

The front hall makes that combination especially visible. The sisters chose an Arts and Crafts tulip pattern on a reflective ground, paired with a William Morris carpet. The bold decoration sits within a Georgian house known for its staircase and landing. Give the relationship between surface and structure a close look: wallpaper changes the character of a hall, while the stairs guide movement and views through it. This is an opportunity to see interior design as an expression of the people living here, not simply as a collection of period styles to identify.

Other rooms offer different points of attention. The library includes photographs of literary figures connected with Sarah's successful career. The dining room's blue accents and the parlor's woodwork bring domestic surroundings into the account, while Mary's room preserves distinctive eighteenth-century wallpaper. Let the tour connect these details with the sisters rather than treating each room as an isolated photograph. Family memory and contemporary taste could coexist, making the home both a place inherited from the past and a setting in which independent women made their own lives.

Sarah's connection with Annie Fields extends that life beyond South Berwick. Jewett spent part of each year in Boston with her partner while continuing to return to the Maine home she valued. Thinking about those connections can enrich a visit to the rooms: this was one anchor within a literary and personal world that reached farther than the town. The relationship between a familiar home and a larger circle of people provides a useful companion to reading Jewett's work, especially for visitors interested in how an author's surroundings and relationships enter a creative life.

Book for the advertised touring season and discuss access needs in advance, since a house tour involves stairs and a virtual visit is available in the visitor center. Leave time there as well as in the historic rooms. You do not need to have read every book before arriving; a few pages of Jewett afterward may be just as rewarding. The visit gives those pages a concrete setting, shaped by architecture, decoration, family possessions and the continuing affection of the sisters who made this old house their home.

Fun facts

1. The house dates to 1774, and Jewett was born here in 1849.
2. Sarah and Mary Jewett inherited the home in 1887.
3. The front hall combines an Arts and Crafts tulip pattern with a William Morris carpet.

Read the official sources →

Visitor perspectives

1. Candice particularly enjoyed the staircase, wallpaper and writing nook, finding the visit a compelling introduction to Jewett. The writer also found some interior photographs difficult in the available light.

Capture

1. If photography is allowed, frame the staircase and hall decoration together from the visitor route.
2. Use a detail image of an approved room feature to explore pattern and color without touching furnishings.

Social

Sarah Orne Jewett House connects a Maine writer with the rooms she loved.

The 1774 house was Jewett’s birthplace in 1849.

Sarah and Mary reshaped the inherited home after 1887.

A bold Arts and Crafts hall sits within Georgian architecture.

The library connects domestic rooms with a wider literary circle.

Jewett returned to South Berwick while spending part of her life with Annie Fields in Boston.

The neighboring Greek Revival house serves as a visitor center.

Check seasonal tours and discuss access needs ahead of time.

Hashtags

1. #Cre8Travel
2. #Maine
3. #SarahOrneJewett
4. #SouthBerwick
5. #LiteraryTravel

Sources & visitor information

• www.historicnewengland.org
• www.historicnewengland.org
• thehistoricnewenglandproject.com