John Hancock’s house just went up for sale.

Ebenezer Hancock House in Boston

Though 10 Marshall Street may not be as famous an address as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, this three-story Boston home still holds an important place in American history. The residence was built and owned by founding father John Hancock, and it recently went up for sale for the first time in decades. The real estate listing describes the home as the “last extant property associated with [Hancock] in Boston” and the “only vernacular structure dating to the mid-1700s to survive in central Boston.” According to Boston city archaeologist Joseph Bagley, it’s also the 27th oldest house in the city. And it’s one of a few surviving homes in Massachusetts associated with a U.S. founding father, along with John Adams’ birthplace (built in 1681) and residence (built in 1731), which are part of a national historical park in Quincy, Massachusetts.

John Hancock — famous for being the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence — inherited the lot at 10 Marshall Street in the 1760s, and built the house in 1767. However, the 5,748-square-foot home is referred to as the Ebenezer Hancock House, named after John Hancock’s brother who lived there. Ebenezer later assumed the role of deputy paymaster general for the Continental Army and set up an office in the home where regimental commanders came to pick up soldiers’ wages during the American Revolutionary War. In 1778, France’s Louis XVI gifted 2 million silver crowns to the United States in support of the war effort, which were stored in this very building.

In 1785, John Hancock sold the property to a glass merchant, who later sold it to a shoe dealer in 1798. For the next 165 years, the building operated as a shoe store before it was left vacant and then acquired by the law firm Swartz & Swartz in 1976. While the current asking price isn’t publicly known, the property was assessed at $1.65 million in June 2025.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Benjamin Franklin’s only surviving home is located in London.

While Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston in 1706 and spent most of his life in Philadelphia, he also lived and worked in London for several years. In August 1757, Franklin moved into an apartment located at 36 Craven Street, which is now the founding father’s last-surviving residence. In a 1758 letter to his wife, who was living back in the U.S., Franklin wrote, “I lodge in Craven Street near Charing Cross, Westminster; We have four Rooms furnished, and every thing about it is pretty genteel.” During his time in the apartment, Franklin invented a glass instrument called the “armonica,” and was said to take nude “air baths” sitting in front of the open windows. He departed London in 1775 to return stateside and serve in the Second Continental Congress. While the property fell into disuse, it was restored and reopened as a museum in 2006 honoring Franklin’s legacy.