Our Favorite Things: Grandfather Clock

While many of the objects in the house are rather quiet and can be easily missed, my favorite object is quite literally unavoidable, chiming several times a day almost as if it’s demanding you to look for it. The Grandfather Clock— positioned above the Stair Hall yet below the Upper Landing- we believe was given to Mary Grundy’s grandparents, Benjamin and Prudence, as a wedding gift in 1795, making it a grand total of roughly 230 years old. Since it is one of the oldest objects in the house, I think it is absolutely flooring that it is that old and still fully functional!

The clock is one of those objects where the more you look at it, the more details you see— especially since the face of the clock changes with the time of day from an almost Gerber Baby-esque moon to a seascape with a couple of ships, both exquisitely hand painted. Little cherries adorn each corner of the face.

As it seems, I am not the only person who holds Benjamin and Prudence’s clock in high regard, as the Grundy’s went out of their way to redirect the chimney from the fireplace below to flank the clock, enabling it to hold its position as the centerpiece of the stairwell.

Elena, Museum Docent