Touring the John Quincy Adams House

Our tour guide this morning at the Adams Mansion is Caroline Kyneth, who's in charge of guest services. Hi, Caroline. Hi, Bob. Not too many visitors to Boston know that we have treasures like the Adams Mansion here. No, this is one of our greatest treasures here in Quincy. It was the home, the old house, to our second and sixth presidents of the United States, John and John Quincy Adams, and there's over 140 years of history. It also served as a summertime White House to both those presidents, so it's a pretty special place. It's a magnificent house. Now, how big a place is it? Originally, when John and Abigail moved into the house, there were a total of six rooms to it. Today, there are 21. So it grew. Could we maybe see three of the rooms? We sure can. Good. What a beautiful front door, Caroline. Yes, it is, Bob. It's part of the original 1731 wing of the old house. I'm going to ask you to take off your shoes while we're inside. Oh, sure. To protect the building. Very, very delicate place. Yes. It's a beautiful little staircase. Yes, it is, and we're carrying on a tradition that was started by Brooks Adams, the last generation to live in here. The tours don't go up the stairs because he requested that only family members use this staircase. Oh, that's nice. Yes. And this is the front parlor? Yes, we're going into the front parlor or paneled room. The woodwork in here is gorgeous. It's all mahogany, isn't it? Yes, and that's why it's today called the paneled room. The original builder brought it in in 1731. It's Santo Domingo mahogany. Everywhere, including the crown holdings up along the ceiling. It's the earliest known floor-to-ceiling paneling in the United States. Is it? It's a little bit dark. Tell me about the history of the room. Well, when John and Abigail moved in the house, they felt it was a little bit dark, too. And to take care of that, they added a window on either side of the fireplace to bring more light into the room. Beautiful. And they also whitewashed the wood paneling. They whitewashed it? Brightened it up a little bit. But their grandson, we're very thankful, brought it back to the original Santo Domingo mahogany as you see it today. So he restored it back in the 19th century? Yeah, in 1860, about, and it cost him $285, which he said was a very expensive luxury. Big bucks back then. What's the room on the other side? The original dining room to the house. Ah, this is lovely. Yes, this is the dining room to the home, and it's really a reflection of four generations of the Adams family tastes, likes. We have originally Abigail's mahogany table, which she would have used in the paneled room. You can imagine how beautiful that would have looked. Yes. And then the fourth generation added the hepa white sideboard. Beautiful piece, yes. And then we have the third generation's taste, which would be the addition of the terracotta fireplace. Which is probably 1860s or 70s. And then finally, John Adams is holding a place of honor above the fireplace. This painting was originally painted by Gilbert Stewart. His daughter was also an artist, and she made a copy of their father's painting. Oh, how marvelous. That's what hangs here today, and this was the last portrait that was ever painted of John Adams at the age of 88. Very talented. And the architecture of the room is pretty simple. Yes, it is. Next, long room. Well, why is it called the long room? It's called the long room because it extends the length of the house. Abigail had it built in 1800, and she more or less doubled the size of the home. It's about 30 feet long. It's about 30 feet. Yeah, it's a large room. Yes. Very interesting. Now, most everything in here looks French except for this piece in the corner. This particular piece is a sewing chair, and it was brought into the house by Charles Francis Adams. You can see the original sewing box on the top of it, and this is where the pin cushion is, and it's all one piece. I've never seen anything like it. But it's a very formal room. It's presidential. It's quite beautiful. Where did they get all the French furniture? John Adams served as our ambassador or minister to the Netherlands, and he purchased this furniture secondhand while he was over there to furnish the hedge. And the room is beautifully detailed. What a wonderful mantelpiece with all the carved oak leaves. Of course, it's a similar situation to what we have in our little house in that the masonry is actually built away from the wall so that the pilaster and the mantelpiece itself is built out. And what great and elaborate chair rail molding you've got here. Wonderful room. Caroline, is the house open all year round? No, it's not. It's open April 19th through November 10th, seven days a week. Very special. Thank you for the tour. My pleasure.