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George Washington Could Have Slept Here: 11 Homes From the 1700s

We’re well familiar with housing-related clichés. Let there be a glorious day where we never have to hear “Location, location, location” again.

But one of the oldest chestnuts has a tie-in to a founding father—and, therefore, Presidents Day! So, this one we’ll embrace. Our first president, George Washington, lived a vagabond’s life while he fought to establish America’s independence. According to Smithsonian Magazine, he “spent the night in so many inns and private houses that ‘George Washington Slept Here’ became a real estate cliché.”

We didn’t find any homes currently on the market bold enough to make that tired claim, but we did find quite a few places where he could have stayed on his travels.

These testaments to the ingenuity of home builders of the 1700s still stand strong today, and all of them are move-in ready—which is more than we can say for homes of more recent vintage. McMansion, anyone?

Take a stroll back into the 1700s and have a look at these 11 homes from Colonial times. They all offer a welcome place to hang to your tricorn hat, even if Washington never darkened their doorstep. … Or did he?

207 Hulsetown Rd, Chester, NY

Built in: 1775
Price: $575,000
Presidential potential: A couple of hours north of Manhattan, Quail Ridge Farms has stood tall since before the U.S. was the U.S. Original post-and-beam construction is visible in the home’s kitchen and throughout the living spaces. You’ll also find an extremely cool etching left by a contemporary of the nation’s first president—home builder George Duryea—which simply reads GD 1775.

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327 Still River Rd, Harvard, MA

Built in: 1782
Price: $1,199,000
Presidential potential: Known as Flintlock Farm, this home was built over a hundred years after the founding of Harvard University in 1636. We can imagine early patriots crowding around one of the home’s fireplaces to keep warm through the brutal New England winters.

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67 Arnold Rd, Pittston, ME

Built in: 1763
Price: $250,000
Presidential potential: Built alongside the Kennebec River, this four-bedroom Cape Cod-style home sits on 4 acres of land. And it’s a bargain! For only a quarter-million dollars, a buyer can step back in time and imagine life as it was in the 1700s.

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6132 Gordonsville Rd, Keswick, VA

Built in: 1764
Price: $7,950,000
Presidential potential: Positively presidential, this opulent estate is known as Castle Hill. Decorated with attention to period detail, this mansion is all about the old money still floating around the East Coast.

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701 Caroline St, Fredericksburg, VA

Built in: 1776
Price: $1,500,000
Presidential potential: Located downtown and right along the Rappahannock River, this classic home has had a number of incarnations. It’s been a tavern, an oyster bar, and post office. An intrepid buyer could set sail down the Rappahannock and wind up in Chesapeake Bay, at the very mouth of the Potomac.

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1351 Warwick Furnace Rd, Pottstown, PA

Built in: 1782
Price: $2,999,900
Presidential potential: This listing details for this fabulous stone mansion offer a shout-out to the founding father. The home is “set in the heart of the historic French Creek Valley, where General Washington brought his army to rest after the Battle of the Brandywine.” Works for us!

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5 Stone Mill Rd, Claverack, NY

Built in: 1787
Price: $750,000
Presidential potential: Less than million bucks for a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places? Count us in. This historic home features wide-plank wood flooring, four fireplaces, and a working cooking hearth.

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179 Pleasant St, Portsmouth, NH

Built in: 1784
Price: $2,900,000
Presidential potential: This stately mansion has a direct tie to American history. According to the listing details, it was built for Captain Thomas Thompson, “one of the first naval officers commissioned by the Continental Congress.” And as a bonus for history buffs, the home’s classic architecture has been well-preserved over the past two centuries.

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1864 Susquehannock Dr, Drumore, PA

Built in: 1767
Price: $849,900
Presidential potential: Sitting on over 11 acres, this antique home might be even older than its stated build date of 1767. It’s a prime example of Colonial-era style with multiple fireplaces, a detached stone barn, and a cupboard built expressly to store the family Bible.

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93 Stover Park Rd, Pipersville, PA

Built in: 1791
Price: $1,499,000
Presidential potential: The kitchen in Cedaridge Farm looks as if it hasn’t been touched since the 1790s. Stone walls, low ceilings, and dark wood beams frame a cooking area where we can envision a multitude of hearty meals being whipped up over the past 220 years.

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723 Harmersville Canton Rd, Salem, NJ

Built in: 1792
Price: $1,299,000
Presidential potential: Any buyer so inclined could head out of the back door of this four-bedroom brick farmhouse and embark on a crossing of the Delaware River. Just minutes from the waters of the famed river, this 125-acre farm is certified organic. Washington would approve!

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