The story goes that the Pilgrims’ first winter in 1620 was so brutal that many continued to live—suffering from scurvy and malnutrition—aboard the Mayflower ship.
Half wouldn’t make it to see spring, when a Native American tribe showed them how to plant crops that would become Thanksgiving staples, like pumpkins and corn.
With images in mind of America’s early colonists shivering in their buckles and black breeches, it’s no wonder they went on to built such sturdy houses. They topped minimal wooden frames with steeply pitched roofs to shield from the heavy snow, had central chimneys to keep warm and often left rustic details, like interior beams and bricks, exposed.
Now, many early colonial estates in New England aren’t just standing, some are trading hands for many millions of dollars.
Before you slip into a turkey-induced coma, here’s a feast for the eyes of Pilgrim-era mansions on the market today in New England:
PRICE: $1.675 million
BEDROOMS: 4
BATHROOMS: 3 bathrooms and one half-bathroom
SIZE: 5,206 square feet
YEAR BUILT: 1669
Built more than a century before the colonists would fight for freedom against the British, the Noyes-Parris House is the oldest dwelling still standing in Wayland, Massachusetts. The original home was three bays wide and two stories tall, though there have been a number of additions in the centuries since. The original chimney still sits at the center of the home, which comes with 3.8 acres of lawn, a hot tub, a library filled with built-in shelves and a separate carriage house. The home even has a connection to the Salem witch trials. The Rev. Samuel Parris, who was at the center of the witch hunt, lived there for a spell in the early 1700s.
PRICE: $1.335 million
BEDROOMS: 4
BATHROOMS: 4 bathrooms
SIZE: 4,050 square feet
YEAR BUILT: 1674
Warm up by one of several fireplaces or the wood-burning stove inside the oldest building in Sherborn, Massachusetts. Known as the Morse-Barber House, this million-dollar home has been on the National Register of Historic Places since the 1980s and was restored over the years to bring back some original details, according to the listing. The house has wide-plank pumpkin floors, exposed wood beams, brick fireplaces in the living room and dining room, a butler’s kitchen and a barn that matches descriptions dating back to the 1700s.
PRICE: $1.495 million
BEDROOMS: 3
BATHROOMS: 3 bathrooms
SIZE: 3,093 square feet
YEAR BUILT: 1665
Builders put up this this saltbox-style home during the Pilgrim-era, but about 75 miles from where it stands today in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. The building is originally from Billerica, Massachusetts, and was painstakingly disassembled around 2000 and move to this bucolic location north of Concord, New Hampshire. Carefully restored, the home has a connected carriage house, five fireplaces, a barn, a water tower and a one-room schoolhouse dating back to the late 1700s, complete with period desks. The Farley Garrison House, as it’s known, has plenty of modern amenities, too, including a sub-zero fridge and a Viking stove.
PRICE: $2.995 million
BEDROOMS: 7
BATHROOMS: 5 bathrooms and three half-bathrooms
SIZE: 6,377 square feet
YEAR BUILT: 1645
The earliest part of the Hammond House was built just two decades after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth Rock, when it was only two stories and four rooms. Since then, there have been a number of additions that have grown the house to 16 rooms plus a two-car garage. The home also has an eight-foot fireplace, a ballroom with intricate millwork, a wood-paneled library and 18-inch floorboards. Only four families have called Hammond House home, according to the listing, not bad considering it’s one of the oldest buildings in Newton, Massachusetts.