Thought to be the oldest known dwelling in Calais, the Holmes Cottage is a one-and-a-half story building with a side-gabled roof and a large central chimney. The front facade is dominated by a projecting vestibule added in the late nineteenth century. The wood framed and clapboard sheathed structure sits on a fieldstone foundation on Main Street. Local folklore dates the house to 1805-an era when the community was small and with little means. What is more likely, however, is that the house was not built until c.1820 when the lumber industry developed in Calais. This house was one of the first more substantial dwellings constructed in Calais in the Cape form. The original owner is unidentified, but it was later the residence and medical office of Dr. Job Holmes. Although Holmes built a new house on a neighboring lot in the 1850s, the cottage remained in the family until 1954. It is now a museum administered by the St. Croix Historical Society.
Year Listed: 1987
For more information: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=35a89460-c344-4b57-b0fe-155e37d85bab