Barrett-Byam Homestead
40 Byam Road
The Barrett-Byam Homestead was originally owned by James Parker. When Thomas Barrett and his son came to Chelmsford from Braintree in 1663, they bought the house along with 52 acres of land. The house has a fireplace in every room- the original fireplaces were probably taken down around 1800, and were replaced with Rumford fireplaces. This style of fireplace was designed by Count Rumford, who fled to England earlier because he was a Loyalist. Installing
these fireplaces was probably a way to modernize the heating system.
Also in this house is a “beehive oven”, which is where most of the baking was done. This would have originally been in a walk-in fireplace.
Currently, the Barrett-Byam Homestead is the home of the Chelmsford Historical Society.