In 1759, Major John Vassall, brother of Henry Vassall, inherited land and monies from his father and built a home on the north side of Brattle Street in Cambridge. It was one of the seven houses, built by Loyalist families in Cambridge, that became known as "Tory Row." All were as fine a home as to be found in New England and served as summer homes for Loyalist families. John Vassall abandoned the house in 1774 when he, his wife, and their children had to flee to Boston because of their Loyalist sympathies. Colonel John Glover and his Marblehead Regiment (one of the most famous of Continental Army regiments who helped save Washington's Army after the battle of Long Island and who were responsible for getting Washington across the Delaware for his famous Christmas attack on Trenton) occupied the building as temporary barracks in June 1775 and General Washington made it his headquarters during the siege of Boston until the evacuation of Boston in April 1776. The house went through a couple of owners until it was purchased by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's father-in-law as a wedding present for him and his wife. Longfellow turned the house into a shrine to Washington. It is now a national historic site under the care of the National Park Service.
Below are links to the NPS Longfellow web site and a Bob Vila video that has a tour of the house with him and a National Park Ranger.
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| House as it appeared in 1775 |
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| House in 1879 |
http://video.bobvila.com/m/21320843/touring-the-vassal-craig-longfellow-house.htm
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