The General Sylvanus Thayer House - Braintree, MA

The Thayer House is a historic home in Braintree, Massachusetts. The “salt box” style house was built in 1720 by Nathaniel Thayer. General Sylvanus Thayer, a prominent figure in the United States Army and the founder of West Point Military Academy, was born there in 1785. One of Thayer’s nicknames was “the Father of West Point.”

General Thayer lived in the house until 1793, and it remained in private hands until the early 20th century, when it was purchased by the Walworth Steel Company. Walworth dismantled the house and moved it one mile down Washington Street. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and is now owned by the town of Braintree. A reproduction post-and-beam dairy barn was built on the property by the Braintree Historical Society in the early 1970s. A canon, which was a gift from the West Point Military Academy, is displayed on the front lawn.

The house is currently furnished to represent a middle-class agricultural household of the 1780s, and around 60% of the wood is original. Guided Tours are available from the Braintree Historical society on a semi-regular basis.