Fitz Henry Lane House

Commanding one of the finest panoramic views of Gloucester Harbor, the artist Fitz Henry Lane designed and built this austere but romantic granite house in 1848-49 with Gothic vaulted chambers, stone details, and an almost arbitrary interior room plan set high on a hill with grape arbors, fruit trees, magnolias, and terraces. Lane’s studio was located on the third floor, where the physically challenged artist would hoist himself up steep, narrow stairs to paint Gloucester’s luminescent harbor scenes. Lane died in this building in 1865, and although the City of Gloucester has completely modified its interior over the years, the exterior is unchanged from Lane’s occupancy.