Historic Use
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My library looks finely, with its dark oaken cases. I take much delight therein, and
keep it as a room consecrated to books and musings.
Mr. and Mrs. Waterston came out with Ernst Perabo, the young musician; and we had a
charming musical evening. He played Beethoven divinely. I never heard such expression given to the music
of the great master...
Last night the Library was gay with screens. As yet we have come across no bronzes,
but have found a few silks and splendid bed quilts.
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1759 Floor plan |
This room may have been used as a dining room by Major John Vassall who built the house. In Vassall's day, the kitchen was in the left rear room which today is the dining room. During 1775 and 1776 this room was used as a staff room and writing room for George Washington's aides. |
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| When Andrew Craigie enlarged the library in 1793, he used this grand room for entertaining. | ||
Alice Longfellow at the Piano 1870 by Ernest W. Longfellow |
The Longfellows used the room for formal and informal family gatherings, musical events, children's programs, parties, and dances. They added gas lighting to the House in the late 1840s to early 1850s and installed central heating. In 1851 Henry wrote in his journal, "We are driven out of the library by the dry furnace heat which cracks and splits all the furniture; and here we are in the...front room..." When the Longfellow children formed a trust to preserve the house as a memorial, they requested that the library be changed as little as possible. |
Decorative heat register on wall |
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| © 2004 Longfellow National Historic Site | |