Fairbanks House — Attraction in Dedham

Our family are Direct Descendants of Jonathan and Grace Fairbanks. This wonderful, historic house, THE Oldest Timber Frame House still standing in the USA, is a must see for lovers of history. Such a complex story of the Fairbanks family. We received a Genealogy back in 1989 from a family member who did this the hard way. Before the internet and Ancestry, Family Search and others. After recently doing my own research and finding out the old Genealogy was completely accurate, I decided to reach out to the Museum this past winter to volunteer some of my time for whatever they might need. I now have completed a month of training to be a Docent, interpreting the rooms of the house for our guests. Very excited to have learned so much more about the construction of the old Homestead and of the Culture of 17th Century Colonists. If you are a lover of History, especially First Period Colonial life, The Fairbanks House is most definitely a "Bucket List" destination. It teaches us many things and how the house and family changed with the times, and how the house really didn't change on the inside after 8 generations lived there. Very proud of this amazing, important, historic house and the story behind it. And of course, that we are modern day members of the ongoing History. I can go on forever!!!!! Love this...

A really disappointed experience, was really looking forward to enter the museum today but was not able to do so. Went online to purchase tickets and noticed there was an option for 10 free tickets for each time slot and signed up for those. At the time of the tour the members were not friendly at greeting and asked if we were members of the Fairbanks or active members of the military to which we said no, we were informed the free tickets were only available if we were members or active members of the military, at this point I started checking online because there is no note specifying so when buying the tickets and was not able to find that requirement, one of the members said it is a system error they are trying to fix but we were not allowed inside. There was clearly a racial issue (we were a group of hispanics) because we were trying to understand how this was our fault and were not given a solution not even to purchase the tickets there, we took the time to drive there and were really looking forward to it. This is really unfortunate and a really sad experience. Hope no one else has to go through this specially since we had kids with us and it is really hard when you have to explain...

The coolest and oldest verified colonial house I've ever visited. I am a history buff and love the northeast region and decided to visit on a trip to Massachusetts. Was worth every penny. The tour guides were knowledgeable about the house, showing us the original timber beams which were tree ring dated to scientifically age the house from 1637-1641, as well as the original massive chimney and one of the original clapboards. Another favorite part was the 'hex marks' on the chimney mantle which were charms to keep evil spirits out of entering through the chimney. Anyone interested in history at all I would recommend visiting especially because this area of Mass. has so much to offer as well. They allow you to take pictures which was awesome since all the original parts of the house were on the interior. To get a sense at how old this house is, when it was built in 1641 the English colonists were still using armor and pikes as well as matchlock muskets. Also the English Civil War a year later was one of the last times castles were used extensively in a conflict in England. It was also nearly 50 years before the Salem...