HISTORY OF THE PINK HOUSE
60 Plum Island Turnpike, Newbury MA 01951

Board members Sandy Tilton, assisted by Alison Odle, conducted extensive research on the history of The Pink House in 2017. In 2019, the Newburyport Preservation Trust conducted their own research and presented it to Support the Pink House.  Read the intriguing key findings below and please, contact us​ with any photos or information regarding The Pink House history!

Chain of Ownership 

• July 13, 1925:  Gertrude W. Cutter purchased The Pink House property from widow Abbie K. Little
• 1925: Pink House built on the property - as it stands now. The porch was not enclosed when built, but was a wrap-around style.
• November 1925: Gertrude's son Harry, his wife Ruth, and their infant son Harry Jr. move into The Pink House.
• November 1925: (later) Harry & Ruth separation reported
• 1925 – 1947: The Pink House continued to be owned by the Cutter Family. However, the deeds switched from Gertrude to her daughter Charlotte, to her son Harry’s second wife Beatrice Bowry.
• July 1947: The Pink House was sold to Chester & Hilda Rogers
• April 1949: The Pink House was sold to Harold & Hazel Proctor
• April 1950: The Pink House was sold back to Chester & Hilda Rogers. According to a Proctor family member, Hazel Proctor was unhappy with the brackish running water inside the house so the Rogers agreed to buy The Pink House back.
• 1955: The Pink House was sold to William & Julia DeHart. Many local area residents tell of happy times visiting the DeHart family at The Pink House.
• 1960: The Pink House was sold to Milton & Juliette Stott. The Stott family had many joyful years in The Pink House and remember them fondly. Milton Stott passed away in 1978 and Juliette in 2006, but The Pink House remained in the Stott family until September of 2011.
• September 2011: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife / Parker River National Wildlife Refuge purchased The Pink House and its acreage on the salt marsh. ​

---

History of the First Residents: 
The Cutter Family
​

The Cutters were a prominent Newburyport family who were involved in several local businesses including a cafe / diner at 5 Inn Street (which they owned), and the Fern Shoe Company. 

In July, 1925, after the passing of her husband George, Gertrude Cutter, then 60 years of age, purchased the plot of land upon which The Pink House now sits. It had previously been owned by the Little family and had been used for salt haying. Another widow from a prominent Newburyport family,  Abbie K. Little, owned the deed to the property. At the time of sale, the adjacent Plum Bush Downs area and other parcels of beachfront property on and around the island were being marketed to young families as vacation homes or more permanent dwellings.
​
Gertrude soon had a house built on the upland, presumably for her son Henry T. Cutter, his wife Ruth ( Morin) Cutter and their infant son, Henry T. Cutter Jr, who was around 2 years old at the time.
​
Harry and Ruth had been married at the Cutter home on High Street, and honeymooned in the Rangely Lakes region of Maine. In the early years of their marriage, Ruth and Henry (often called Harry by friends and family) had rented some places around town, but this was to be their permanent residence, or so it seemed. They moved in to the house in November of 1925.
​
But sadly, The Pink House at 60 Plum Island Turnpike was not to become the “forever home” for this small family. A mere few weeks later, Ruth had vacated the home with son Henry T. Jr.

First resident Ruth Morin Cutter, rumored "Spite House" wife of owner

---

Having apparently been abandoned at the house with young Henry Jr.  for long periods of time, Ruth reportedly contacted an attorney, and upon his advice "took what she thought was hers out of the house” and fled to her mother’s home in Salem, MA, with her son. She left the bed made for husband Harry. Though there are some conflicting reports on the timeline and regarding just how many times husband Harry had left Ruth alone, we can gather from these reports the nature of the apparent rift.

Several years passed before the couple were officially divorced, though they remained separated since that fateful November. During the time of the divorce, The Daily News of Newburyport reported Ruth as saying that the trouble began in the marriage in 1924, before moving into The Pink House. Once Ruth was settled in, husband Harry would go away "on Sunday and not return until the next Saturday, leaving Ruth with $2.00* for the weeks' food and whatever was left over from the week before." (*about $30 in 2021's value) 

Ruth claimed to have stayed in the house "for 12 nights and days with my one-year-old child, while the wind howled & the windows rattled." A statement  from a neighbor reinforces the narrative of Harry’s absence and the poor conditions of the house. Mrs. Titus of Plum Bush Downs would often help Ruth with rides into town. “Harry would get his meals at his mother Gertrude’s home in Newburyport."  Also according to the newspaper, The Pink House was said to have had "a foot of water in the cellar and both towels and newspapers were used in place of curtains.

First owners Henry T. Cutter & Ruth Morin Cutter wedding announcement

---

---

During the divorce, Henry’s whereabouts during that unhappy November came into question. Harry admitted to “making frequent visits to the apartment of Beatrice Bowry,” a Boston business woman, but there was “never any wrong doing,” according to Harry. The divorce which both Harry and Ruth filed for in Mass courts in 1934 was denied by a judge, both Harry and Ruth claimed "desertion on November 17, 1925” as the reason for divorce.

Harry later married Beatrice Bowry on Feb 8, 1937, after finally obtaining a divorce in the Florida courts. Harry and Beatrice made their permanent home in Palm Beach Florida with their son Stephen and often traveled north to stay in The Pink House during the summers until the Cutter family sold it in 1947.  ​​

Henry T. Cutter & second wife Beatrice Bowry Cutter in Palm Springs

​

---

Pink House in census 1930

Was the house always Pink? ​

​Harry and Beatrice remained married to each other for the remainder of their lifet​ime. Harry and Beatrice’s grandchildren have told us that their father Stephen Cutter adored the times he spent at The Pink House & often spoke fondly of his family time there! We also know that they referred to it as the "little pink house" which makes us believe it probably was always pink. 

What about the Spite House Legend?  ​

A positive about the spite house legend is that does help people discover The Pink House. Unfortunately though, some judge the house itself for an embellished story about its earliest residents from nearly 100 years ago!

Let’s go over what the legend says. There are several versions online, but we have chosen this widely shared version from Atlas Obscura . Please note: We have never found an article on the Spite House legend that credited factual sources. 
​
Spite House Legend (from Atlas Obscura)
"THIS ABANDONED HOUSE LOOMS OVER a salt marsh, its pale pink paint looking like a mirror of the colorful sunsets that so often streak the sky. It’s a celebrated local landmark, one with a definite air of mystery and romance.

But the picturesque house’s story is not at all romantic. It’s a spite house, a divorced man’s way of getting the final say against his ex-wife.

According to town lore, the house was built while a local couple was in the process of finalizing their divorce in the 1920s. As part of the divorce agreement, the wife required her husband to build an exact replica of their family home for her.  But unfortunately for her, she didn’t specify exactly where.
​
Her soon-to-be-ex went along with her stipulations and built a home identical to the one they once shared. It would’ve been a sweet, amicable gesture—had he not purposely built it atop an isolated salt marsh. Even the plumbing used salt water instead of fresh water, making the abode uninhabitable."


If you compare that story with the facts on record that both Support the Pink House and the Newburyport Preservation Trust researched, you can see where the story could be interpreted... but also where there is just no evidence at all!  

You Can Help!  ​

If you have photos, news articles, diaries, artwork or any other information historical significance to the Pink House,  or know someone who may, please contact us below!  ​We're always looking for more!

Acknowledgements