Ezekiel Merrill built this large house just east of the Ellis River for his family of nine. Merrill and his family were a part of a group of Revolutionary War veterans from Massachusetts who chose to settle in the area due to its fertile intervale (a low-lying area near a river). After purchasing four lots in 1788, Merrill brought his family here in canoes. As the first European-American settlers to arrive, the area was essentially a frontier, and the family initially resided in a log house. Merrill constructed the house over the next two years as a two-story hipped roof dwelling with two large chimneys with a symmetrical facade, typical of early nineteenth-century architecture in New England. The property passed to Merrill's daughter Mary and her husband Sylvanus Poor, whose father was also an original Andover settler. Their son, Henry Varnum Poor, who would go on to start a publishing company that eventually became part of Standard and Poor, hired Boston architect Edward Clarke Cabot in the 1890s to remake the family homestead as a summer retreat. The roof form was changed and the ornate entry porch, gabled dormer, and large center chimney were added. The house remained in the Poor family for many years and currently serves as an inn.
Year Listed:1976
For more information: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=23c098a4-7c95-4535-b1f0-2aa52db685c9