Diary of John Quincy Adams, volume 2
1788-04-20
I pass'd the forenoon at home in writing. In the afternoon, I attended meeting and heard Mr. Wibird. After meeting, I went down to view the house, which they are repairing for my father:1 I was not perfectly pleased with it; but it now appears in a very unfavourable light: they are obliged to make the most necessary repairs very hastily expecting my father in a few weeks. I am in hopes, that after my parents return; this place will be more lively and agreeable to me than it is at present. I think I shall never make it the standing place of my residence: but I shall wish to pass much of my time here, and hope the change may be for the better.
The Vassall-Borland place was an abandoned loyalist estate in Braintree. Several individuals occupied the house during the Revolution and afterward, until it was finally purchased for JA in Sept. 1787 through the agency of Drs. Cot-394ton Tufts and Thomas Welsh. Long known as the Old House, four generations of Adamses lived in it until 1927. In 1946 it was deeded to the federal government and became the Adams National Historic Site. For additional details, consult the notes in
Adams Family Correspondence
, 3:264–266, and JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 3:217; the Old House is illustrated in JA, Diary and Autobiography
, 4:facing 195.