The Thomas Nichols family, among the first settlers of Barre, migrated to the area from Worchester, Massachusetts in 1799. Upon arrival they erected this homestead, and soon after welcomed the birth of their second son. The simple floor plan of the house consisted of two front rooms flanking a small central hall, a large and small room at the rear of the house, and two large rooms on the second floor. A large beehive oven was built in one of the rooms at the rear of the house. Typical of early Cape houses in Vermont, the wooden trim was simple, void of stylistic influence. Thomas Nichols died just a year after the family migrated to Barre. His older son, John, was seventeen and became head of the family. The house remained in the Nichols family until about 1900. Grandson Thomas B. Nichols, maintained the family's farm in the 1880s, which at that time consisted of 130 acres, 18 heads of cattle and 1000 maple trees. The house has experienced very little alteration over the past two centuries. The addition of a side ell increased the living space for the Nichols family, but the main house still reflects the essential features and materials of its original construction.
The Nichols House is on Rural Rt. 2 off of Vermont Rt. 100 in East Barre. It is a private residence and not open to the public.
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