(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved. Contact us for information about using this image.
Agnes Higginson and her husband moved into an older house in Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1854. During this period, many Americans were becoming increasingly attracted to the homes and artifacts of the 18th and early 19th centuries. This growing fascination with America's pre-industrial past fueled what became the Colonial Revival Movement. The Higginsons were among the first, according to one descendent, to "choose a house in Deerfield solely for its beauty." In a letter to her older son, Steven, Agnes described how she had arranged and furnished the house she fondly called "the homestead." The floor plan she included reflects a growing desire to provide individual family members more personal space and privacy. The ways in which the Higginsons arranged the rooms of their 18th century house reflects personal taste and the Victorian culture of the 19th century.