Captain Penniman House

Great house tour by national seashore docent. And u can walk around the grounds. Granted there are lots o bugs so be prepped w bug spray!

We love looking at old houses, and this one is so fun! Open houses almost every day, but if you can fit it into your schedule, take the guided tour, which is only available a couple days a week (reservations required). I loved learning about the Penniman family, Cape Cod life at that time, and the architecture.

This is a fine example of 19^th century European architecture where you’d least expect to find it: on Cape Cod. The home of a New Bedford whaling captain built in the mid 1800s, the Penniman House has been preserved as a National Historic site on the Cape Code National Seashore, and the house is just beautiful. We couldn’t find info on hours or tours on the website, so we headed out to the Cape hoping that we’d get lucky, but apparently the house is only open T-​Th from 1 – 4, with guided tours on Saturdays.
Nevertheless, it was a fascinating visit. The grounds are tiny, though, so don’t go expecting some vast tract of land and giant house a la Tory Row in Boston. This was very minimalist as far as European style was concerned, but for a house on the Cape, it’s pretty amazing. All of the original details on the moldings are still intact, and peering through the windows, we saw that the old floors and wallpaper had been also preserved. There is also a beautiful carriage house. The most awesome thing about this house has to be the whale jawbone entry gate when you first walk up to it from the parking lot. It’s a real sperm whale jawbone painted white and affixed to posts of wood to act as an archway.
Minus one star for the weird hours plus scant information on the weird hours online. The Cape Code National Seashore site is confusing as it is; I really think they should maybe look at redesigning their site to make it more accessible. But I definitely recommend the Penniman House as a short stop if you’re on Route 6 on your way up the Cape. It’s a nice 15 minute break and a great photo op.