The Oldest Houses in Peru
20 resources stand on the state's historic inventory here: 13 of them buildings, with 1 recorded as demolished and excluded below. The assessors' rolls corroborate the age: about 4 parcels in town carry pre-1800 construction dates.
The Oldest on the Inventory
- 1780Geer, Jonathan House · 46 South Rd Extension · Georgian
- 1786Peru Town Hall · 6 West Main Rd · Federal; Greek Revival
- 1790Thompson, Artemas Tavern · 2 East Main Rd · Federal
- 1797Unnamed in the inventory · 64 East Main Rd · Federal
- 1800Frissell, Capt. Thomas House · 61 East Main Rd · Federal
- 1800Stowell, Cyrus House · 3 Orpin Rd · Federal
- 1813Geer, Alpheus House · 19 Middlefield Rd · Federal; Greek Revival
- 1815Congregational Church Parsonage · 9 Ministers Rd · Federal
- 1825Watkins and Day House - Sawmill · 29 Middlefield Rd · Federal
- 1830Cole, Ezra House · 26 Middlefield Rd · Greek Revival
- 1858Crane Family Summer House · 189 East Windsor Rd
- 1858Tower, Lorenzo Shoe Shop · 12 Ministers Rd
Dates are the surveyor's attribution, often approximate. Names are the inventory's own historic designations. These are private homes unless a museum says otherwise, admire from the road.
What Peru Is Built In
- Federal6
- Federal; Greek Revival2
- Georgian1
- Victorian Gothic1
- Greek Revival1
Inventoried buildings by recorded style, the survey's lens, not a census of every roof in town.
What Listing Actually Means Here
No local historic district binds owners here. The inventory maps 1 historic area in town: Peru Center.
Old Houses Nearby
The nearest towns, and the age of their housing stock.
From the Desk
RE413 News: what to check before you buy an old house here. Built from the same public record as the figures on this page.
Sources
- Massachusetts Historical Commission inventory; assessors' parcel rolls for the age corroboration. Checked 2026-08-05.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.