Cooper-Frost-Austin House, Boston

The Cooper-Frost-Austin House stands as a well-documented testament to being the oldest dwelling still in existence within the City of Cambridge. Erected in 1681 by Samuel Cooper, who served as a selectman and deacon in the North End of the cow common, this house represents one of the earliest instances of an integral lean-to "half house". It encompasses a low room, little room, kitchen, chamber, kitchen chamber, garret, and cellar, all of which remarkably remain intact to this day. The original chimney and a front gable have also withstood the test of time.

Subsequent modifications occurred when Cooper's son extended the house in 1690. Further changes were made between 1807 and 1816 by Martha Frost Austin and Thomas Austin, who introduced an enclosed porch and incorporated Federal-style elements into the stairway and trim; however, the rear stairs and the partition wall leading to an unheated lean-to room have remained in their original state.

The exposed and intricately adorned frame in the original front rooms, which underwent partial restoration in 1912, along with decorative pilasters adorning the original chimney stack above the ridgeline, render this house a preeminent example of late-seventeenth-century timber-framed architecture outside Essex County.

In 1911, the Cooper-Frost-Austin House became part of the holdings of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now known as Historic New England, Inc. It continues to be maintained as a research house and is accessible to the public by appointment.