Sheffield · The Old House Atlas
The Oldest Houses in Sheffield
296 resources stand on the state's historic inventory here: 251 of them buildings, with 8 recorded as demolished and excluded below. The assessors' rolls corroborate the age: about 39 parcels in town carry pre-1800 construction dates.
The Oldest on the Inventory
- 1727Deane, Silas House · 139 South Main St · ColonialNational Register
- 1735Ashley, Col. John House · 117 Cooper Hill Rd · GeorgianNational Register + local district
- 1738Pettit, Jonathan House · 319 North Undermountain Rd · Federal
- 1740Hubbard, Rev. Jonathon House · 550 Sheffield Plain · Colonial; Greek RevivalNational Register
- 1740Ashley - Locke House · 1189 Ashley Falls Rd · ColonialLocal historic district
- 1740Smith Homestead · 871 Bow Wow Rd · Colonial
- 1743Ashley, John Mill and Iron Works · 1209 Ashley Falls Rd · ColonialLocal historic district
- 1750Noble, Elisha House · 254 Main St · Colonial; GeorgianNational Register
- 1750Unnamed in the inventory · 69 East Rd · Colonial; Georgian
- 1750Root, Aaron House · 414 South Main St · Georgian
- 1751Westover, Nathaniel House · 381 Sheffield-Egremont Rd · Georgian
- 1760First Congregational Church · 125 Main St · Colonial; FederalPreservation restriction
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 Sheffield Is Built In
- Greek Revival73
- Federal49
- Colonial13
- Georgian10
- Italianate8
- Colonial Revival7
- Federal; Georgian7
- Victorian Eclectic6
Inventoried buildings by recorded style, the survey's lens, not a census of every roof in town.
What Listing Actually Means Here
131 of the town's inventoried resources are on the National Register, an honour that, for a private owner, restricts almost nothing. 37 sit in a local historic district, where exterior changes need a commission's sign-off, the designation with teeth. 2 carry recorded preservation restrictions that run with the deed. The inventory maps 5 historic areas in town: Sheffield Plain Historic District; Ashley Falls Historic District; Sheffield Center Historic District….
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.