The Front Entrance Foyer

At the Gem at Little Rest, also known as the Baker Greene Home, the Front Foyer serves as both an introduction and an invitation. Built in 1788, when the ideals of a young country were still tender and untested, the home reflects the enduring craftsmanship of early New England. Nowhere is that more quietly evident than in this simple, steadfast entryway.

Here, the original bones of the house are unmistakable. The hand-planed woodwork, finished in a deep historic black, forms a striking contrast to the soft plaster walls that have witnessed more than two centuries of seasons, families, and the gentle passing of time. Every doorway is framed with a sturdiness that speaks to colonial builders who worked not for speed, but for permanence.

The narrow staircase that rises from the foyer carries with it the contours of generations of footsteps, worn smooth by daily life in an era when families grew large and homes like this held them together. Each stair, each angle in the wood reveals the human hand, steady and deliberate, that shaped it long before modern tools existed.

Across the threshold, the floorboards—original in spirit and patina—stretch toward adjoining rooms, their dark finish echoing the home’s long history. They bear the marks of centuries not as flaws, but as signatures of endurance, reminders that a house can be both shelter and story.

The thick wooden doors, fitted with iron latches crafted in the eighteenth century, remain faithful to their purpose: to separate and connect, to protect and to welcome. Their weight and texture remind us of a time when even the smallest features were built with an understanding that a home should last for generations.

In the Front Foyer, the spirit of the Gem at Little Rest comes into focus. This is a place where the past is not distant or decorative, but alive in the very structure. Here, one enters not just a house, but a lineage, a testament to the people who came before and to the enduring beauty of early American architecture.