The Complex History of the Pink House
If you ask people what they know about the history of the Pink House, you may hear the story of it being a “spite house” – a replica of a house built on a forsaken piece of land as part of a nasty divorce settlement. The complete story, while still unseemly, is a bit more complex and has been corroborated by two independent research efforts.
In 2017, Sandy Tilton and Alison Odle, along with the invaluable assistance of Sharon Spieldenner at the Archival Center, researched the history of the Pink House. That year, they presented their findings at a Support The Pink House meeting which was documented on the front page of The Town Common newspaper.
Fast forward to 2019, the Save the Pink House committee asked the Newburyport Preservation Trust to independently research the history of the house. I spent time analyzing primary sources to outline the events and people close to the Pink House. A more complete history is below and can be reviewed in even more detail on the Support the Pink House website.
Newburyport resident George Cutter married Gertrude Weatherbee in 1887. They lived on High Street and had two children, a daughter, Charlotte, and a son, Henry. According to 1920 census records, both Charlotte (aged 32) and Henry (aged 25) were living at home with their parents on High Street.
Charlotte, a nurse, never married and eventually moved to Boston. Henry married Ruth Morin of Newburyport in 1922. He was the President of the Fern Shoe Company and they lived in a house on State Street.
Henry, Ruth and mother Gertrude all play important roles in the history of the Pink House.
Matriarch Gertrude Cutter purchased a lot of land at 60 Plum Island Turnpike in early 1925 from widower Abbie Little of the Spencer Peirce Little Farm. Gertrude began construction of the home and it was ready to occupy by November of that year. Gertrude gifted the house to her son Henry. Henry moved his wife Ruth into the house in 1925. What? What about a nasty divorce settlement where the husband built a house in a marsh to get back at his wife?
The real story continues….and, yes, there is a nasty divorce.
The full story of what happened during that time did not surface for another 9 years when Henry sued Ruth for a divorce and custody of their son. In 1934, their divorce case was heard in court and the proceedings were covered in the newspaper which is where I found all of this information.
The Cutters were married in 1922. Ruth testified that the trouble between the two of them began in 1924 because of Henry’s mother who interfered in their marriage. Other problems ensued.
Henry and Ruth began to experience financial difficulties when the shoe industry in Newburyport started to flounder in the mid-1920s. According to Ruth, Henry shut off the telephone in their spacious 13 room residence on State Street. Ruth also testified that while living on State Street, Henry would keep the fires going to keep a pet parrot warm while she and their young son suffered from lack of food. Then, Henry moved Ruth to a 3 room apartment on Orange Street. When Henry had trouble paying the gas bill at their Orange Street apartment, he removed the pipe connecting their gas stove with the supply pipe.
In 1925, Gertrude Cutter began construction of today’s Pink House. Ruth thought the house was going to be a summer house for Gertrude. Henry did not tell Ruth that Gertrude was building the house for them. In November, Henry moved some possessions to the house. As described by Ruth, the house “had a foot of water in the cellar and both towels and newspapers were used in place of curtains.” The house was also described as “having no conveniences, not even running water, no neighbors, and no stores near. At high tide the water from the marshes came up to the front of the door.” In the 1960’s, locals referred to this area as Mosquito Park.
To make matters worse, Henry left Ruth and did not return for a period of time. He said that he needed to focus on work and would return to see his wife and baby on the weekends. He only left her $2 for the week’s groceries and milk for their very young child. Luckily, a neighbor provided Ruth with food during the week so they did not go hungry.
While Ruth lived alone in the Pink House, Henry would get meals with his mother all week in Newburyport and/or spend time in Boston. In court, Ruth testified, “One day when I came home unexpectedly, I found a woman in the house with him.” (It is unclear of the timing of this incident–before or after Henry moved Ruth to the Pink House.) Henry admitted he made frequent visits to the apartment of a Boston business woman, who once lived in Newburyport, but he denied any relationship with her.
Ruth lived in the Plum Island house for just twelve days and then had enough. She asked the woman who was providing food to drive Ruth to her mother’s house in Salem. Then Ruth got in touch with a lawyer who told her to take what she thought was hers out of the house. Ruth vacated the house and left the bed made for Henry.
In May of 1926, Ruth sued her mother-in-law, Gertrude, for $50,000, stating that Gertrude had “maliciously persuaded and enticed the plaintiff’s husband to leave plaintiff’s home whereby her home has been broken up and destroyed and she has lost the company, society , and aid of her husband and his affections for her have been wholly alienated and destroyed.” This made front page news in Newburyport.
After closing arguments in the divorce case, Judge Edward B. O’Brien DENIED the divorce but required Henry to pay $10 a week for the support of their minor child. He ruled that Ruth was justified in leaving the home. At this point, the Cutters were still married but living separate lives.
What happened to Gertrude, Henry, and Ruth?
Ruth lived with her mother and son in Salem from 1926 through at least 1930. She moved back to Newburyport by 1937. In 1946, Ruth took Henry back to court, asking for $25 per week. Ruth stated that Henry had received a large sum of money and requested the additional money to help with her “proper maintenance.” She was granted this money but within a year, she came back asking for $10,000 because Henry had moved to Florida and she was worried that she would not receive her $25 per week. The judge granted her $5,000.
According to the 1930 Census, Henry and his mother lived in the Pink House. Then, in 1933, Gertrude deeded the property to daughter Charlotte. Charlotte was living in Boston so it is doubtful that she lived in the house.
Between the divorce hearing in 1934 and Ruth’s attempt to get more money out of Henry in 1946, Henry had the divorce finalized in Florida and he quickly remarried the Boston businesswoman who Ruth found him with all those years before.
The Cutter family sold the Pink House in 1947. It changed ownership a few times and was sold to the DeHart family in 1955. William DeHart was a silversmith who moved from New Mexico to be the director of design as the Towle Silversmith. In a conversation with a member of the Stott family, a subsequent owner, she recollects that the house was yellow during her time on Plum Island in the early 1950s. But since the house had a very southwest feel to it—stucco interior walls and classic black and white tiles–she thinks it was likely that the DeHarts who painted the house pink between 1955-1960.
In 1960, the Stott family purchased the land. It remained in their family until they sold it to the United States Government 2011.
So, how did the incorrect divorce story become associated with the Pink House? From what I can tell, the divorce story and spite house nickname picked up steam in 2015 when a reporter for the New York Times wrote an article called “Plum Island’s Pink House inspires a Real Estate Fantasy.” The writer was raised in Newburyport and had seen the Pink House multiple times going to and from Plum Island. She mentions the rumored divorce story and first called the Pink House a “spite house.” After that, many writers and real estate agents referenced, reposted, and shared the 2015 Times article including the inaccurate divorce story. But now you know a more complete history of the Pink House.
Barb Bailey is a researcher for the Newburyport Preservation Trust. You may reach her at barb.bailey03@gmail.com.
