The elevated Colonial home on 33 Washington St. has three names attached to its lineage that played a role in building the historical background and physical characteristics of the property.
Originally built by Marblehead carpenter Jonathan Powsland in 1732, Sometime throughout the next decade, Peter Homan added a rear lean-to addition to the home, giving it the structure of a saltbox home. A saltbox home is described as a gable-roofed home that is two stories in the front, but lowers to one story in the rear. In the early years of the 19th century, the Dixey family took ownership of the house. The Dixey family’s origins can be traced back to 1629, when William Dixey was one of 140 passengers on one of the first ships to travel from England to what would later be established as New England. His descendant John Dixey was a Marblehead shipmaster and spent a majority of his life in the residence. His son Richard Dixey was one of three Marblehead residents who captained the ship that took the first U.S. Consulate overseas to China.