Oliver Wight House

The Oliver Wight House is a historic house located on Main Street in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Built in the 1780s, the house was first occupied by local cabinet maker Oliver Wight and his family. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The Georgian style dwelling was operated as a motor lodge by Old Sturbridge Village until 2006 and has been reopened as a restaurant.HistoryOliver Wight was born in Medway, Massachusetts on September 27, 1765. He married Harmony Child in Sturbridge on July 5, 1786, and they had eleven children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. Portraits of Oliver and Harmony Wight, attributed to the Beardsley Limner, can be found in the collections of The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum at Colonial Williamsburg. Oliver Wight died in Sturbridge on October 22, 1837.Oliver Wight acquired his property in Sturbridge from his father, David Wight, and built his house near those of his father and his brothers, David Jr. and Alpheus. In addition to the house, he constructed a sizable shop on the property, where he engaged in his craft.A cabinet maker by trade, Oliver Wight made chairs, tables, chests of drawers, bedsteads, and other wood furniture. He created pieces on commission and sold his work locally. Despite his abilities, he struggled with insolvency for much of his life. An article in the Massachusetts Spy in September, 1793, advertised a public auction of his finished pieces and household goods, as he had “absconded.” His Sturbridge farm was offered for sale in 1795. In 1802, Oliver Wight was declared a bankrupt.