Hoxie House
Hoxie House
4.6
About
Built in 1637, this is believed to be the oldest house on Cape Cod.
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- Kristi CStanwood, Washington41 contributionsWe did the guided tour and the docent provided good information. We learned about the history of the house, the area and the past occupants. There were some interesting artifacts on display as well. We enjoyed the experience and recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the home and how the families used to live.Visited June 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten July 3, 2024
- Duane H3 contributionsThe Hoxie House is located in the charming town of Sandwich, MA. The house is steeped in the history of Cade Cod. It is a true living piece of history. So much of the house is original that it gives you a peek into the way people lived in North America in the 1600's. The staff are welcoming and well trained. They enjoy teaching the history of the house and what daily life was like for the families who lived there. They welcome all questions. Their love for the history of the house and surrounding area is obvious.Visited June 2024Traveled with familyWritten June 17, 2024
- thetravelingreaderColumbus, Ohio28 contributionsThis was a spontaneous stop and I’m so glad we decided to go in and do the guided tour. Nancy was so knowledgeable and gave us lots of little insights into the history of the home and what like would have been like. I still can’t believe someone lives in this place until the 1950s! So much of the home is very well preserved, and it’s wild to see so many things from hundreds of years ago. Worth the $5!Visited July 2024Traveled as a coupleWritten August 3, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.6
190 reviews
Excellent
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Cape C
1 contribution
Jul 2023 • Couples
The docents here are very knowledgeable. We learned the origins of the term "windfall" and "dead as a doornail" and many other historic terms and items. So worth going to. Admission is only $5 per person and is well worth it. A very peaceful place and we still can't believe we got to see the inside of a house built in the 1600s. There was a young boy in our group and he learned quite a few things about if he was to live in that house in that time period. Well worth the visit.
Written July 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
eatbread
Lakeland, TN2,778 contributions
Jun 2023
Very interesting and historic building. Beautiful setting. The tours were closed when we visited, but walking the outside was still worth the visit. Very cool glass windows and hardware can be seen. Would be nice to have some informational signs on the outside.
Written June 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christina K
New Baltimore, VA84 contributions
Jun 2022 • Family
This historic home is the oldest house on the Cape and one of the oldest in New England. Tour was very interesting for adults, teens and kids. Second floor does not appear to be accessible, but the entrance and first floor is. Grounds are pretty and right near Sandwich center. Definitely worth the trip!
Written June 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kathy T
Boston, MA11 contributions
Aug 2022 • Couples
We have had a house at the Cape my entire life and never knew about this place!! Beautiful home from the early 1600’s. Absolutely remarkable. Our docent was knowledgeable and lovely. We could not have asked for a better time. A bonus was seeing two swans and their seven signets swimming by in the pond next door!!!
Written August 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Historichousenerd
Boston, MA2 contributions
Jul 2015 • Friends
My colleague and I have visited over 100 historic houses including over 40 First Period homes. We are both historians and museum professionals with interests and experience with architecture and material culture in the 17th century.
We both agree that the Hoxie House has the worst interpretation of any historic house museum we have yet visited. The sheer volume of incorrect information was difficult to keep up with. Many historic sites offer "folk" etymologies for common phrases, often incorrect, but the Hoxie House actually crystallizes these misconceptions into a handy sheet so that you enjoy more bad history at home!
Many of the misconceptions that we heard could have been dispelled by basic research. Our guide informed us that the king would not allow the colonists to be an iron forge in the colonies for the first 100 years of settlement, one guest even questioned this and the tour guide doubled down on how true this statement was. In reality, the Braintree Furnace was constructed in 1644, the Saugus Ironworks lasted from 1646 until 1668, and the Taunton Ironworks survived from 1656 to 1876, for 220 years! We were told that sugar wasn't brought to America from the West Indies until the 1800s, which would have come as a shock to the New England merchants and the Barbadian plantation owners growing wealthy on that very trade in the 1600s. Apparently, Rebecca Nurse was subjected to a swimming test during the witch trials, despite the low prevalence of the method in the colonies of no evidence of its use during the Salem Witch Trials. Supposedly, American Indians didn't go into houses because settlers didn't bathe; people were much shorter back then; only men sat in chairs with arms; they cut their bread in illogical ways; people cleaned their chimneys by tying two chickens to the end of a rope. The guide was careful to note that the last fact was questionable, making all the others seem more legitimate in comparison.
The interior of the house looks very little like a true first period home. Allegedly it was altered to better accommodate bus groups, and the spaces left would be alien and illogical to the 17th-century residents of the home.
In addition, the guides talked of all kinds of invented taxes, conflated the colonial period with the revolution, and had a poor grasp of daily life of the 17th century. By making caricatures of the men and women of the 1600s, the interpretation does a disservice to history. For every person who walks away from the Hoxie House thinking they've heard the true story of American history, our public understanding of the past erodes a little more. There's no humanity here, no empathy, only facts that docents have failed to question for decades.
We both agree that the Hoxie House has the worst interpretation of any historic house museum we have yet visited. The sheer volume of incorrect information was difficult to keep up with. Many historic sites offer "folk" etymologies for common phrases, often incorrect, but the Hoxie House actually crystallizes these misconceptions into a handy sheet so that you enjoy more bad history at home!
Many of the misconceptions that we heard could have been dispelled by basic research. Our guide informed us that the king would not allow the colonists to be an iron forge in the colonies for the first 100 years of settlement, one guest even questioned this and the tour guide doubled down on how true this statement was. In reality, the Braintree Furnace was constructed in 1644, the Saugus Ironworks lasted from 1646 until 1668, and the Taunton Ironworks survived from 1656 to 1876, for 220 years! We were told that sugar wasn't brought to America from the West Indies until the 1800s, which would have come as a shock to the New England merchants and the Barbadian plantation owners growing wealthy on that very trade in the 1600s. Apparently, Rebecca Nurse was subjected to a swimming test during the witch trials, despite the low prevalence of the method in the colonies of no evidence of its use during the Salem Witch Trials. Supposedly, American Indians didn't go into houses because settlers didn't bathe; people were much shorter back then; only men sat in chairs with arms; they cut their bread in illogical ways; people cleaned their chimneys by tying two chickens to the end of a rope. The guide was careful to note that the last fact was questionable, making all the others seem more legitimate in comparison.
The interior of the house looks very little like a true first period home. Allegedly it was altered to better accommodate bus groups, and the spaces left would be alien and illogical to the 17th-century residents of the home.
In addition, the guides talked of all kinds of invented taxes, conflated the colonial period with the revolution, and had a poor grasp of daily life of the 17th century. By making caricatures of the men and women of the 1600s, the interpretation does a disservice to history. For every person who walks away from the Hoxie House thinking they've heard the true story of American history, our public understanding of the past erodes a little more. There's no humanity here, no empathy, only facts that docents have failed to question for decades.
Written July 25, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kelly48571
Schaghticoke, NY82 contributions
Sep 2011 • Couples
I am dismayed to read positive reviews of the tour of the Hoxie House. I am a retired museum professional and have never heard more misinformation given on a tour. One example: a "halpert"- spelled by the guide- used to "clean out the chimney" was actually a halberd, a military accoutrement used by the sergeant as a badge of office in the 18th century. Example two: children in the 17th century were swaddled in the cradle for 3 years to protect them- except for when they used the potty chair- of course while their heads were developed properly at age 3,their bodies were atrophied, so they were tied in the corner until age 5, when their bodies would have developed and they were put to work with their parents." Too bad as it is a great house with some nice furnishings.
Written September 25, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Diane G
Sheffield, UK37 contributions
Sep 2015 • Couples
Visited this house in September 2015 for the third or fourth time. It's small, but the staff make it really come alive and you come away feeling you've visited the past. Strongly recommend if you're in the area.
Written December 12, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lisa L
Burlington, VT13 contributions
Jul 2018 • Friends
I brought friends who are history buffs. First we visited the Quaker Meetinghouse, studying the gravestones and then we headed to Hoxie House. It was the perfect history afternoon. I've been on the tour before and I learned many new things. Grace and Chip were remarkable docents on the day we visited. They made the stories of the early days of Sandwich come alive.
Written August 5, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maureen F
Boston, MA32 contributions
Jul 2015 • Couples
I am a docent at a historic home in Boston and had recently been on a tour of the Pierce House in Dorchester, a First Period home from around the same time as Hoxie House. While Hoxie House has some amazing features and details (esp the one original leaded glass window, on display), the tour guides were very focused on their (inaccurate) explanations of colloquial sayings rather than the construction, history and understanding of life in this 300+ year old home. I was incredibly disappointed with the tour and ended up explaining features in the house from my own knowledge of 17thC homes to my boyfriend, when the tour guides had no information.
Written July 31, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deborah L
East Greenwich, RI49 contributions
Oct 2014 • Couples
A beautiful restored 17th century saltbox which is the oldest house in Sandwich. The docents were entertaining and informative about life in this time period. The explanation of the origin of many present day sayings was amusing. A very enjoyable and personal experience.
Written October 13, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Is there a charge to tour this house ?
Written October 12, 2017
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