Own your own antique, seaport mansion, located in the heart of Fairhaven Village, one of the South Coast’s most picturesque and historic destinations! This rare, 7,500 square foot, brick, federal-style residence, was built in 1840 and is situated on a double-sized lot overlooking Fairhaven’s town center with its working fishing piers, tree-lined streets, and beautiful, Romanesque buildings. The home occupies a corner lot, protected by wrought iron fences and stonewalls, with commanding views of this historic treasure of a town.

When you come tour the home, you will enter the first floor through a huge foyer with antique chandeliers and a massive staircase. Eleven-foot ceilings, pocket doors, pocket shutters, and eight marble fireplaces let you know that you have entered a very special home! To your right are a gorgeous, his-and-hers double-parlor, and a large conservatory with beautiful mahogany woodwork and large bay windows. To your left, are a living room, formal dining room, breakfast room, and a screened-in porch overlooking the sideyard. Toward the rear of the house one finds a large kitchen, one and one-half bathrooms, a changing room, and a back staircase that leads to the second floor.

The second floor features four massive, bedrooms, measuring roughly 18 X 20 feet, each with its own fireplace, as well as one smaller bedroom, and two baths. Butler’s pantries, hidden closets, and service stations remind us of a time when servants and a house manager ran the residence. Huge hand-blown windows allow ample sunlight to splash across the hardwood floors that run throughout the house. This floor has three full baths.

Another flight of stairs takes us to the third floor, currently used as an in-law apartment, which offers two more bedrooms, a living room, an eat-in kitchen (the third floor living room and kitchen could be easily converted back to two more bedrooms, making a total of nine in the house), and a bath.

This stately double-brick and timber mansion, massive in proportion and built like a fort, will be standing for hundreds of years to come. The first floor alone offers 3,400 square feet of living space. The brick exterior, slate roof, and interior window shutters keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer. It is surprisingly affordable to heat. The discriminating buyer will be surprised and delighted by the abundance of handcrafted interior detail, ample storage space, high-ceilings, and the easy flow from room-to-room. This is the ideal house for entertaining! It has a full basement with yet another large finished room. Whether you desire a spacious summer home for entertaining your friends and family or a large, rare, antique, year-round residence in the heart of a historic seaport town, this is your chance!

Located in the heart of historic Fairhaven Village, this home is a short walk to active fishing piers, marinas, the town hall, library, middle school, high school, two parks, beaches, tennis courts, bicycle path, restaurants, shopping, four churches, and much more. Fairhaven’s deep-water harbor is one of the safest and most protected harbors on the Eastern Seaboard. It is a short sail to Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Cuttyhunk, Newport, or the wide-open Atlantic. The home is also close to shopping, the New Bedford National Whaling Historic Park, about 14 National Historic Districts, and the ports, beaches, and golf courses of South Dartmouth, Westport, Mattapoisett, and Marion.

By car, Fairhaven is 75 minutes south of Boston (and Logan Airport), 20 minutes from the Cape Cod bridges, 30 minutes from Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, and 40 minutes from T.F. Green International Airport. Drive to Manhattan in about three hours.

This home must be seen to be appreciated. It is a great value! Where can you buy an extremely solidly built, 7,500 square foot, elegant mansion, within walking distance of the sea, and situated in a picturesque historic setting? Invite friends down to stay, eat lobster and quahogs, and spend the afternoon boating or antiquing. Call Bette or Paul to arrange a showing.