The Burton-Ingram House on Shipcarpenter Street in Lewes stands tall as a reminder that castaways, when given love and attention, can emerge in beauty and usefulness. Anchoring the several other restored buildings in the Lewes Historical Society's complex at the corner of Shipcarpenter and Third, the c. 1800 house was moved from Second Street in 1962 as the initial restoration project of the Society.

An extraordinary feature of this preservation effort is the attention given to resetting the original sailing ship ballast stones that had formed the cellar walls beneath the house at its Second Street address. The stones were reset with care and the transferred basement was in place when the two-story and attic structure made its journey from Site No. 1 to Site No. 2.

As Silco Company planned a modern store in Lewes in the early 1960s, officials purchased a property in the business district (between Savannah Road and Neill's Alley). Interested only in the land, the firm was faced with disposing of the ancient cypresss-shingled house. Upon learning of the concern of many for the recent loss of similar landmarks in Lewes, Silco gave the building to the newly formed historical society. Property ownership over the year had included Neills (Col. Henry Neill of Revolutionary War fame); Burtons (family members of Delaware Governor William Burton); and the family of Anthony P. Ingram, local lumber merchant.

The structure that was urged from Second to Shipcarpenter housed a large entry hall and living room downstairs and hall and two bedrooms upstairs, with one bedroom featuring a small corner fireplace topped by a built-in cupboard. A l920 fire had destroyed an earlier wing of the dwelling said to have been built about 1790. The good fortune of receiving the building was enhanced by the availability of a proper-vintage wing from a Wagamon house in Milton which was expertly adapted as a replacement wing for that lost in the fire.

With the wing in place, and work continuing for some years, by 1968 the Lewes Historical Society had what it had envisioned from the beginning. Here was a house equipped for modern living to serve as an example of an early residence of a prosperous citizen who appreciated good design and comfortable quarters. The "comfortable quarters" include a spacious entry hall graced by an elegant stairway rising to the attic and a tall-ceilinged living room, dining room, kitchen and lavatory. The bedrooms and bath on the second floor are complemented by a hall containing an impressive pine cupboard which came with the house. Called a "kas," and boasting raised panel doors and original H-L hinges and drawer pulls, it is believed to date from the period of the earlier wing of the house.

Fortune continued to beam a smiling countenance upon the Burton-Ingram House at the time when the quarters needed furnishings. The legacy of the widow of Dr. Rowland G. Paynter of Georgetown is known as the Leah Burton Paynter Collection and forms the basis for the furnishings of the house, although many other benefactors have played a role in rounding out the contents. Leah, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Hiram R. Burton, enjoyed a childhood home that was the lovely house next door to the museum now containing her bequests which are not only noteworthy in intrinsic value but are historically significant.

While Lewes has been called a "Story Book Town," the Burton-Ingram House could well be named "The History Book House." Furnishings and ornamental items on display form a blending of periods, possessions of personages, portraits, and painters of note. To be found are rare pieces of Chippendale, Queen Anne, Hepplewhite, Empireand items relating to families of Delaware governors and statesmen with roots in Sussex County. Also found are an unusually fine collection of early children’s toys, clothing and furnishings as well as a growing display of ladies’ finery in dress and accessories.

The Burton-Ingram House might be considered the elder statesman of relocation/restoration in its neighborhood. It stands as the original preservation project, neighbor to restored dwellings and outbuildings in Shipcarpenter Square that since 1983 have sprung up like daisies in a mid-summer meadow.

©Copyright 1997 Hazel D. Brittingham