Cambridge, MA
August 30, 2019
I visited this one on two hours of sleep, after having spent the previous evening arguing with my ex for three hours and then going to a party and drinking off the memory of arguing with my ex. The fact that I greatly enjoyed my visit and was interested in everything the tour guide had to say in spite of my hangover and lack of sleep is a great testimony to Meghan Michel, the aforementioned tour guide. She was wonderful and engaging.
This site is three blocks away from where my youngest was born (Mount Auburn Hospital) and not far from Harvard Square. I visited after an early and routine doctor’s visit at MIT Medical.
I got there right at 9:30 and snagged one of the few metered parking spots in front of the building. Parking here is difficult, so when you visit, come early in the morning so you don’t end up spending a fortune at a parking garage fifteen minutes walking distance away.
The first house tour was at 10am, so I sat in the garden to pass the time.
It was me, a couple who had obviously just dropped off their college kid at Dartmouth, and a woman with two kids for the tour. It was a genuinely interesting tour, with Meghan expertly handling all six of us and all of our many questions. I kept asking about details and books, the couple kept asking about furniture, and the two kids kept asking about everything they needed to know for a high school assignment (the older kid) and the Junior Ranger badge (the younger kid). It was a lovely experience, and considering I was hung over, still pissed off about the crap my ex had said the night before, and sleep-deprived, I can say that Meghan did a fantastic job.
Long story short, the house was originally bought/owned by a fellow named Vassall. George W. used it as the base of his command during the Revolutionary War, and then later, Longfellow was a tenant and then an owner. Longfellow raised his family there with his wife, Fanny. He was the first professional (paid well) poet in America, and his house was the center of Cambridge artistic hob-nobbing (he was also a professor at Harvard). The furniture in the photos mostly dates back to Longfellow’s time.
Laundry room 
Kitchen 
Kitchen 
Longfellow boys. Henry, to the left, was gay and a huge LGBTQ advocate in the 1920s. 
Another eating room 
Books! Lots and lots of wonderful books at this site. 
Longfellow daughters 
Cool doors 
Sitting/social room of both Fanny Longfellow and, earlier, Martha Washington 
Longfellow boys 
Main door with original lock and key — dates back to 1700s. The key is MASSIVE 
The room Washington used to strategize with his admirals during the Revolutionary War. 
This room was later used as Longfellow’s study. The portrait is an older Longfellow. 
Here is a younger Longfellow. 
Long room used as a living area. 
Dante’s Inferno. Longfellow translated Dante’s works, intially to keep himself busy after Fanny died. 
Bedroom where the Longfellows slept…and died. Fanny caught on fire after passing too close to a candle. 
An interesting morning; I look forward to my next Park visit, though that might not be for another couple of weeks.