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Show Oldest House Still a Home "ST" ' "" v3 i ' 5 if! n V ' k v w "is " 1 1 4 s. 0 , ? . . J V j More than S00 years old andi still occupied, the Hoxie House in Sandwich, Mass., is believed to be the oldest house on Cape Cod and possibly in the United States. Basis for claims of its age is a brick, with the date 1637 burned into its side, which was part of a large chimney taken out of the house in the middle of the 19th century by Abraham Hoxie, a whaling captain. The house is distinguished by its salt-box roof, with a short slant in front and a long, droop-ing droop-ing ilope reaching almost to the ground in the rear. The roof originally was thatched but now it is covered with fire-resistant asphalt shingles like those which protect millions of much more modern homes. Other characteristics character-istics of the Hoxie House are its thick walls, recessed, small-paned windows with wide ledges on the inside, and wide floor boards. Situated on a bluff, the Hoxie House overlooks Shawme Lake. During the Civil War, Captain Hoxie mounted a cannon facing the lake and the townspeople dubbed the house Fort Hoxie. |