The oldest sections of the house at 1 Mugford Street in Marblehead, known as the Old Bowen House, are believed to date to 1695. Located near Marblehead’s Old Town House, the building was the home of Nathan Bowen, a merchant who served as Justice of the Peace and Notary Public, and then of Nathan’s son, Ashley Bowen, a sailor, who kept a detailed journal and wrote an autobiography. Ashley Bowen also illustrated his Journal with his own paintings. Ashley Bowen’s nephew, Nathan Bowen, was a noted cabinetmaker. In the twentieth century, the Bowen House was used as the model for a house described in H.P. Lovecraft’s story “The Festival” (1925). Lovecraft‘s fictional town of Kingsport is based on Marblehead.