In 1807, Captain William Nickels built a mansion that stands as one of the finest examples of high Federal style architecture in New England, with an elegant entrance and stunning interior detailing that proclaimed his wealth and taste. Eight years later, Captain Nickels, his wife, and daughter had died in a spotted fever epidemic, and his estate was bankrupt. The family home then became a hotel for the next 84 years, passing through multiple owners and a period of benign neglect. In 1899, wealthy industrialist Alvin Sortwell and his wife Gertrude of Cambridge, MA, bought the house as a summer home for their family of six children, aged 8 to 17, along with servants. Gertrude Sortwell furnished it in the Colonial Revival style, combining 18th century antiques with high end reproductions, and she and her daughter Frances became stalwart preservationists who restored the house to its former glory. After Frances died in 1957, she left the home to Historic New England as a gift to the village she loved, and it now operates as a seasonal house museum open to the public.