Lafayette-Durfee House

Seasonal Tours of the House Sunday 1-4 PM Memorial Day to Labor Day.

In 1750, in what is now Fall River (then part of Freetown called lower Freetown), there were about eighteen houses, most clustered near the Taunton River.

Part way up the hill to the north stood Judge (and Legislator) Thomas Durfee's house, a large home for those times. The house was situated just south of the present Superior Courthouse on North Main Street. An interesting fact is that the well for the house still is visible behind the Courthouse. The house was probably built before Durfee’s famous son, Joseph, was born in 1750. The Judge was then about thirty years old.

Built in circa 1750 moved twice but here in 1874 , timber by timber. The original location was up near the now courthouse(Children Museum) behind that building is the remnant of the well for this house .

The Durfees were of the french decent original family name of D’Urf with the french pronunciation it translates to Dur fee or as we know it , Durfee.

In 1973 by Caroline Durfee original descendent of Thomas & Joesph Durfee, formed a group interested in preserving the historic house. Caroline is the founder of Lafayette-Durfee Historical Foundation which is a 501©3 nonprofit organization. Restored to present condition in 1976 with Bi-Centennial money. The restoration was done by Vaughn Baash of Westport. Fireplaces were restored and in the attic and cellar were found hand-hewn beams with wooden pegs. The house was placed on National Register of Historic Places in 1986.