The Capt. Elias Davis House (c. 1804)

Downtown Campus
27 Pleasant Street
Gloucester, MA 01930

Hours

The Capt. Elias Davis House is open for docent-led tours on Fridays at 2:00 p.m.

Overview Accessibility Carpets & Wallpaper Video Tour

Overview

The Captain Elias Davis House, located in Gloucester’s downtown neighborhood, was constructed between 1799 and 1804 and has been the headquarters of the Cape Ann Museum since 1923. The House was built by “housewright” Jacob Smith who relied on architectural pattern books in his work and who is also credited with also building Gloucester’s Universalist Meeting House (c.1805).

Elias Davis and Lucy Haskell Davis, the original occupants of the Davis House, were representatives of Gloucester families who moved from the Town Green and surrounding areas to the Harbor Village in the years following the American Revolution. With the move, families like the Davises became heavily engaged in maritime pursuits, most importantly foreign shipping and the fishing industry. Capt. Davis, like many of his peers, was involved in the “triangular trade” which brought salted fish from New England to the Caribbean where it was fed to enslaved people. Molasses was brought back to New England where it was made into rum for export to Europe.

The Davis House exhibits a mix of late Georgian and Federal detailing inside and out; in 2017 and 2019, interior spaces were enhanced with period appropriate wall coverings and carpeting.

On Friday’s at 2:00 p.m., the first floor of the Davis House is furnished and is available for tours with a docent guide. Please check in with the front desk.

Image Credits:
The Captain Elias Davis House, 2014. Photograph by Steve Rosenthal (detail).
The Captain Elias Davis House, circa 1920. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives, Gloucester, MA.

Accessibility

The Downtown Campus is completely accessible for all mobility devices with the exception of our historical property, the Captain Elias Davis House. Due to the historical nature of the house, the door frames are not wide enough to accommodate most mobility devices.

Davis House Carpet Installation

In early 2019, historically appropriate carpeting was installed in three of the principal rooms of the Capt. Elias Davis House (c. 1804) and on the staircase leading to the second floor. Woven for the Museum by the Grosvenor Wilton Company in Kidderminster, England, the carpet introduced a burst of color and vibrancy into the Davis House, giving visitors an enhanced understanding of domestic interiors during the early Federal period in coastal New England.

While floor coverings were relatively rare in New England homes during the 17th and early 18th centuries, by the time the Davis House was built, carpeting was increasingly in use, particularly in busy seaports like Gloucester. An inventory of the contents of the Davis House taken in 1821 reveals that in addition to rugs and mats, there was carpeting on the first and second floors. Working with J. R. Burrows & Co., the Museum selected Brussels carpeting woven in period patterns for the Davis House. As scholar Nina Fletcher Little observed, the term Brussels refers to the carpeting’s particular weave (rather than place of origin) that “was composed of colored yarn drawn up in close, uncut loops to form the pattern.” During his career, Capt. Davis made numerous voyages to Europe including several to London where Brussels carpeting was readily available.

The Museum selected four carpet patterns known to have been used in other historic structures in the region. The samples selected are rich in color and feature vibrant designs incorporating flowers and vines along with geometric and architectural shapes. In the front parlor, the best room in the House, a decorative border was added, complimenting the paper boarder used on the walls of the room. While our 21st century eye may tell us that the carpet patterns are over the top, the Davis family and their friends would have found the overall effect very pleasing.

In 2017, period wallpaper was hung in the first floor on the Davis House. Both the carpeting and the wallpaper projects were funded through the generosity of Museum members and friends.