Long Room parlor of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

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The Peace Field Mansion is located at at 135 Adams Street in Quincy.

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PEACE FIELD GUIDED TOUR DETAILS

The only way to see the inside of Peace Field, as John and Abigail Adams called it, or the Old House as it was called by later generations of the Adams Family, is on a Ranger-guided tour. These are typically held from June until the end of October on Wednesdays through Sundays, multiple times each day. There is a fee for entrance into any of the homes at Adams National Historical Park, but there is no additional charge for the guided tours. See the House Tours web page here on National Park Planner for complete information about touring Peace Field and the Adams Birth Homes. To learn more about the Peace Field mansion, see the History of the Old House at Peace Field web page.

A standard tour of Peace Field focuses on John and John Quincy Adams. It is held every hour starting at 9:30 AM, with the last tour at 3:30 PM. There is no tour at 12:30 PM. The standard tour, which is what I took and is described in this article, visits three rooms on the lower floor and two on the upper floor. There are more furnished rooms in the house, but to see them you must take the Legacies of Leadership Extended Park Tour, which is held only twice a day. This tour covers the additional rooms that are more significant to the second and third generations of the Adamses who lived at Peace Field. It also includes a guided tour of the John and John Quincy Adams Birth Homes. Those not on the Legacies tour can still see the Birth Homes, but the tour is self-guided.

The standard tour of Peace Field meets at the house, and participants must get there on their own. While a shuttle bus does stop at the house, if you are at the Visitor Center where tickets are obtained, the bus first heads to the Birth Homes before stopping at Peace Field. It takes 45 minutes to complete the loop, so if you get a ticket for a Peace Field tour that starts in 20 minutes, you will be late if you take the bus. If you are able-bodied, it is an easy 10-minute walk to Peace Field from the Visitor Center. I do not suggest driving unless walking is not an option or if it is raining, as there is only street parking and spots may be hard to come by. Those taking the Legacies tour start at the Visitor Center and take the bus to both the Birth Homes and Peace Field.

All of the furnishings in the house belonged to the Adams Family, though not necessarily John and Abigail. Four generations of Adamses lived in the house. In fact, it never left family hands until the National Park Service acquired it in 1948.

INSIDE PEACE FIELD

The standard tour of Peace Field begins on the first floor at what is called the Paneled Room. This is a small parlor with mahogany paneling that is located in the original section of the house that was built in 1731 by Leonard Vassall. That house was only a third of the size of what stands today.

Abigail detested the darkness of the Panel Room, so she added the two windows on either side of the fireplace and painted the mahogany paneling white. The paint wasn’t removed until Charles Francis Adams, John’s grandson and John Quincy’s son, became the owner of the house in 1848.

Panel Room Parlor of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Next to the Panel Room is the dining room, which is also located in the original house. Many of the rooms changed purpose over the years, but the dining room was always the dining room. It is decorated with a mishmash of furniture owned by the various generations of Adamses. The dining table belonged to John and Abigail, the armless chairs to John Quincy, and the armchairs on the end to Charles Francis.

Portraits of George and Martha Washington (by Edward Savage in 1791) hang on one wall. John Adams’ portrait (by Gilbert Stuart in 1824) is over the fireplace. While the Washington paintings are originals, the Adams painting is a copy by Stuart’s daughter, Jane. The original was once in the home, but it is now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This is the last portrait painted of John Adams, and it was done in the Panel Room across the hall.

Dining room of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Dining room of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The tour continues in the main parlor, the Long Room. This room is located in an addition to the house built between 1797 and 1800 by Abigail when John was in the White House as president. He was not even told about it and only found out when a neighbor wrote him a letter mentioning the new construction. Abigail wanted a grand reception room for when John served a second term as president, but of course he lost to Thomas Jefferson. Nevertheless, the room did host James Monroe when he was elected president in 1817 and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 and 1825 when he visited Peace Field.

Long Room of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Long Room of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

After visiting the dining room and parlor, the tour heads upstairs. The second floor is not wheelchair accessible, and there are no elevators in the house. Those who cannot proceed up the stairs must exit the house at this time.

One of two staircases to the second floor of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The first room visited upstairs is John Adams’ study, which is also located in the 1797-1800 addition (it is directly above the Long Room and the same size). This is where John spent most of his time. After Abigail’s death in 1818, he brought at cot into the room and slept here. When he died on July 4, 1826, he died in the study.

Second floor study in the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The study is where Adams first wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1812, more than a decade after they had a falling out due to the 1800 election. The letter rekindled their friendship, and while the two never saw each other again, they did correspond until their deaths, which ironically came on that same Fourth of July in 1826. Jefferson had died a few hours earlier, but Adams never knew about it. Charles Carol was then the only surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

John Quincy Adams inherited Peace Field after his father’s death. While he and his wife, Louisa, rarely stayed at the house, he did use it a few times as his “Summer White House” while he was president (1825-1829). Because Washington D. C., was built on a swamp, malaria infections picked up during the summer, and many people left town for country estates. During his stays at Peace Field, the study served as his office.

Second floor study in the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The only way into the study from the main bedroom prior to 1836 was to either go downstairs and come back up the other staircase or pass through the guest bedroom. To get around this problem, John Quincy had a back hallway built that allowed him to access the study directly from his bedroom.

Second floor hallway at the Old House at Peace Field that connects the master bedroom and study, Adams National Historical Park

Guest bedroom in the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The last stop, back on the lower floor, is at the kitchen. The building was originally detached, but John Quincy connected it to the house when he took ownership. The kitchen was upgraded over time, and various types of ovens and stoves are now on display. The clock in the corner was a gift to John and Abigail Adams. It was already an antique at the time, dating back to the 1670s. It still works.

Kitchen of the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

The kitchen area was staffed by paid servants. In order to call for service from anywhere in the house, Charles Francis and Abigail Brooks (John Quincy’s son and the third owner of Peace Field) installed a bell-operated annunciator system. This was added just before they built an entire servants’ wing onto the house in 1869.

Bell-operated annunciator system in the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

As the tour exits the house, it passes through the hallway just outside the kitchen where there is a display of china that belonged to the various generations of Adamses who lived at Peace Field.

China cabinet in the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Both the standard tour and the Legacies tour include a stop inside the Stone Library. After a small fire in the main house during John Quincy’s ownership, he thought of constructing a stone structure to house his 6,000 books. The building would have a lower floor library and a second floor family portrait gallery. This remained just an idea until Charles Francis became the owner in 1848 after his father’s death. By that time, Charles had over 6,000 books of his own, so in 1870 he built the library. Nearly all of the books are reference books.

Stone Library at the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Inside the Stone Library at the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

After finishing the tour, participants are welcome to walk around the garden. The boxwood hedges date back nearly 300 years to the original builder of the Peace Field house, Leonard Vassall. Many of the trees were planted by John Quincy, and Abigail Adams’ white Yorkist roses are still growing.

Garden at the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

Also on the property is the stone Carriage House built by Charles in 1873. Today it is used as offices by the National Park Service, so it is not open to the public.

Carriage House at the Old House at Peace Field, Adams National Historical Park

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