The House at 23 Pleasant Street

The gambrel house at 23 Pleasant St. is, according to Boston Landmarks Commission, part of Charlestown’s small collection of late Georgian gambrel houses.

The gambrel roof, widely used in the domestic architecture of the northern colonies from 1700 to 1780 and still popular today as a roof for barns, is a symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The extra slant on each side provides the advantages of a sloped roof while giving headroom, or storage room, on the upper level.

It’s a close-fitting roof, like a wimple hugging the head of a nun.

At 23 Pleasant St., it's the gambrel profile, rather than the front entrance, that meets the sidewalk. The front entrance -- secluded by a hedge high to the middle of the house -- enters out onto a large yard, facing south to Warren Street. 

Records show that members of the Kettell family, who lived in Charlestown from the birth of Joseph Kettell in 1641, were the original owners of the house. (John Kettell, a descendant, was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives between 1809 and 1812.)

In March of 1808, Andrew Kettell sold the house at 23 Pleasant St., and the adjoining land to Joseph Noyes, a merchant from Boston, for $1,600.. About 10 years later Noyes sold it to Benjamin Fiske, who turned around and sold it two years later to William Hawes and Samuel Rich for $1,000. 

Boston Landmarks Commission makes an interesting observation about the property: "Evidently Fiske continued to live around 23 Pleasant because the Fiske/Hawes deed stipulated that Fiske and his heirs had the right to the ‘full and perfect use of the well in front of the house.'" 

The deed also stipulated that neither Hawes nor Rich could build a stable in front of the house.

In 1847 the house was sold at auction to Aaron Wiley, referred to as fisherman in an old Charlestown directory. Wiley’s heirs held the house until at least 1892. Later owners included Charles Sawin and John Kyle. The house is currently privately owned and occupied.

A quick summary

• Where is it?
  23 Pleasant Street, close to Warren Street.

• When was it built?
  1808. Pleasant Street was set out in the late 1790s. It’s possible that the house at 23 Pleasant Street was the first house built on the street.

• How was it built?
  It’s a late Georgian wood-frame house. The main entrance of the house, with five bays, faces a large tree-shaded yard.

• What are the future plans for the structure?
  The house is privately owned and occupied.

Information for this article was compiled from several sources, including the Boston Landmarks Commission, vis a vis Massachusetts Historical Commission Inventory; ‘Old Charlestown’ by Timothy Sawyer and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambrel. Thanks to Susan Voloshin at the Charlestown Library for her patient help in locating research materials.