Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester, MA is an historic house built in 1907. It was home to the famous interior designer, Henry Davis Sleeper and his family until 1942 when it was donated to Historic New England. It has been preserved and restored to look as it did in its heyday.
It’s located along the shore and has stunning views of the shoreline, which makes Beauport a great day trip for anybody.
Getting to Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester
Beauport’s official address is 75 Eastern Point Boulevard in Gloucester.
It’s located on this strange private road with a big sign saying, “Private Roads – Residents & Members Only” and a guard questioning people as they go in. We actually drove by it at first, thinking it was some kind of private road for rich people; it is, but it’s also where Beauport resides.
It’s marked with a sign along the road, the parking lot is on the other side of the street.
Admission was $15 a person.
The Guided Tour
Included in the price of admission is a guided tour inside of the house, if you want. Otherwise you are free to roam the grounds.
Tours are given at the top of every hour and last about an hour.
Once inside the house, you have to put on booties. This is to help preserve the floors.
It was pretty amusing seeing everyone walking around in blue booties.
Just as when I did the John Adams house tour, you are not allowed to take pictures inside of the building. She didn’t explain why, but I think it’s because there’s a lot of expensive artifacts and the photos can be used to “case” the joint.
They have an extensive gallery of interior photos here, but I’ve included a few of their relevant pictures in this post to save you the trouble.
Inside the Home
The tour guide was well rehearsed and she led us promptly from each room to the next. We got to see and learn about almost every room in the house.
Let me tell you, Henry Davis Sleeper had a real flair for the dramatic.
From head to toe, every room embodied a theme including the kitchen.
He actually had two kitchens, one was the functional kitchen, the other was themed after a colonial kitchen with a big cast iron pot in a fireplace.
Each room would alternate a light theme and a dark theme. You’d walk from a “tropical” themed room into a black, shiny, wooden room and then back into a bright room that catches all of the light.
He had many dining rooms commissioned, again, each with its own distinct themes. Depending on the food that was being served would determine which dining room he would host in.
My favorite was the sea foam green dining room. This room was very open and faced out to the ocean. One wall was lined with windows. The big center window could be retracted like a car window so the diners would get an unobstructed view of the ocean.
If you couldn’t guess, Henry would serve fish and seafood meals in this room.
The tour took us through almost every room of the house and finished up where we started, in the foyer. It took about an hour to complete.
Grounds around Beauport
Outside and around the house are beautifully maintained grounds. It’s full of flowers and plants and is a great place to take a break from life.
Around the backside of the house is an amazing view of the ocean with a few areas to sit and stare out into the distance.
We saw some people having their lunch out in the back, I thought this was a great idea and if I lived closer, I would consider doing it myself.
Hours of Operation
Beauport, Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester, MA is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.
It’s open from May 24 through October 18.
Tours are given at the top of every hour with the last tour at 4 PM.
Admission is $15 for an adult, $12 for seniors, $8 students and free for Historic New England members and Gloucester residents.
Ha ha stylish booties 🙂 What a grand old place. I’d like to live there for the views alone.
Me too! Haha