This mansion was home to Nathaniel Ropes, a judge on the colonial equivalent of today’s Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Judge Ropes associated with patriots such as John Adams, but still held Loyalist views. It is said a crowd of local patriots protested outside his home in 1774, and the judge, who was bedridden with smallpox, died shortly thereafter.
The mansion is operated by the Peabody Essex Museum, and self-guided tours of the house are available, as well as 365-day public access to a large garden of 5,000 flowers.
