Isaac Royall House - Early History

Early History

Isaac Royall, Jr. came into its possession in 1739, and greatly enlarged it between 1747 and 1750. He more than doubled the depth, greatly extended the brick end walls correspondingly, and constructed great twin chimneys at each end of the house, connected by parapets. Other features added by the younger Royall were the false ashlar siding on the new western facade, and great Doric pilasters inserted at the corners. The interior was redone in Georgian wooden paneling, trim, and archways possibly unsurpassed by any surviving house of the period. Today several of the major rooms are original; others have been reconstructed after Victorian remodeling.

In the American Revolution, the Royall family were British Loyalists, and as the British soldiers marched to the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the Royalls left Medford and boarded a ship in Boston. They sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia and then on to England. Isaac Royall never again set foot in Medford.

After the Royalls' flight, the Massachusetts General Court confiscated the estate. General John Stark made the Royall House his headquarters before the evacuation of Boston by the British on March 17, 1776. The mansion was used during the early months of the Revolution by Generals Lee, Stark, and Sullivan, and was visited by George Washington who, according to legend, interrogated two British soldiers in the house's Marble Chamber. Molly Stark is said to have watched the movements of the British troops in camp by the river from a lookout on the roof.

In 1806, the estate was returned to Isaac Royall's heirs, who subsequently sold it. In accordance with Isaac Royall's will, a portion of his estate was donated to Harvard University and used to found Harvard Law School.