42 Drift Road

Cross the street to the south end of the Town Landing, and walk toward the gate of the “Stone House” at #42 Drift Road.

There have been several houses on this site, including one that the Sisson family moved to after King Philip’s War. A later one (c. 1790) belonged to John Avery Parker, a businessman whom the Selectmen regarded as a potential pauper who would rely on town welfare, so he was asked to leave Westport. Within a few years, Parker was the wealthiest man in New Bedford!

Humphrey Howland built the stone house in 1830 from locally quarried granite. Note the crenellated stone wall—not at all typical of Westport. The gazebo in back of the house is new, but fits in beautifully with this lovely and unusual Greek Revival.