The modest North End home of one of the best-known figures of the American Revolution puts a human face on historical events. The wooden Paul Revere house (c1680) contains artefacts of Revere, including silver pieces he created and period furnishings.
The house is not only a monument to the man who rode across the countryside warning the militia that the "British are coming", but also a very well-preserved piece of early American history and one of the oldest buildings in Boston.
The house was purchased in 1770 by Paul Revere and housed his five children, his wife and his mother. After Revere left in 1800 it became a dilapidated tenement, housing a mixture of shops on its ground floor. The Boston house was reclaimed in 1902 when Paul's great-grandson John P Reynolds Jr bought the place in order to keep it from being destroyed. From then on preservation began and it has subsequently been run by the Paul Revere Memorial Association.
The exterior of the house has been restored to its late 17th-century appearance. The interior is a combination of 17th and 18th-century features and two rooms are furnished with articles from Revere's era, several that belonged to the Revere family.