The five-bay Grapevine House is a fine example of a late 18th-century home and remains much the same as when it was constructed in 1798. It was built by two brothers, one of them a ship’s captain. Capt. William Willis had been to France and on the return voyage he stopped at the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. While there he took cuttings from the local grapevines and stuck them in potatoes to keep them alive on the voyage home. On the journey back to Oxford one plant died, but the other flourished in the soil in front of the house. By the eighteen fifties the grapevine had a circumference of 45 inches and went all the way around the house. It was supposed to be one of the largest grapevines in the world, even larger than Queen Victoria’s. In one season, it was reported to have yielded 24,500 bunches of grapes.
People from both Channel Islands who have toured Oxford over the years all declare that it was certainly the vine from the other island that died. Today all that remains is the section over the walkway to the house.
Incidentally, Capt. Willis’s brother, John, was a successful local merchant and boat builder, who was appointed Customs Collector by Thomas Jefferson and served from 1804 to 1839. John married Margaret Barnaby whose father had built the Barnaby House across the way.
Continue on down to the corner stopping at the last house on your left.
