Recently, we visited Beauport in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Gloucester (pronounced “Gloss”-”ter”) is about a 45-minute drive from Boston. The town is a fishing hub located on Cape Anne, as seen in National Geographic’s Wicked Tuna. Beauport is a historic house in Gloucester, also known as the Sleeper-McCann House. Today Historic New England owns the house, and it is a National Historic Landmark.
Address: 75 Eastern Point Boulevard, Gloucester, Mass.
Website: https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/beauport-sleeper-mccann-house/
History of the House
Henry Davis Sleeper started building Beauport in Gloucester in 1908. Sleeper was one of the first professional interior designers in the United States. After visiting a friend that lived in the Eastern Point area of Gloucester, he decided to build a summer home there. The name Beauport comes from “Le Beau Port,” or the beautiful port, which is what the explorer Samuel de Champlain called Gloucester harbor.
Sleeper first built a small cottage, but he continued to expand the house. Some rooms were inspired by various themes or objects. Sleeper would salvage pieces of other, older houses, then he would incorporate them into his home. For example, one room has Chinese wallpaper that was reportedly owned by Robert Morris, a financier of the American Revolution.
Eventually, he used his additions as showrooms for his prospective clients. These rooms allowed him to demonstrate his interior design skills. His clients included Isabella Stewart Gardner, Joan Crawford, and John Mack Brown.
Sleeper passed away from cancer in 1934. The house was then purchased by Mrs. Helena Woolworth McCann. She made only a few small changes, and kept Sleeper’s house intact. McCann also kept on Sleeper’s housekeeper, Mary Landergan Wonson. Wonson worked for Mrs. McCann until McCann died in 1938, and then stayed on as the mansion’s first site manager.
Visiting Beauport
Today, Beauport is open to the public. It is typically open 10am-4pm on Tuesdays through Saturdays from May to October. A guided tour runs on the hour. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $8 for students.
We took the regular guided tour, and absolutely loved the house! Every room was unique! However, since the mansion has so many rooms, the regular tour doesn’t cover the entire house.
But once a month there is the “Nooks and Crannies” tour: an in-depth, behind-the-scenes tour. Admission for the Nooks and Crannies tour is $35 for the general public and $20 for members of Historic New England. This tour allows you to explore every room in the house, as well as passageways, closets, and more!
This house really is a hidden gem of New England. It’s absolutely gorgeous and full of interesting history! Don’t miss Beauport in Gloucester, Massachusetts!
