This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. I’m trying to remember as much as humanly possible from our tour; there was just so much information! I hope y’all enjoy this virtual tour through the home and are someday able to see for yourselves. :)
The House of Seven Gables was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne (as you’ll remember, the namesake for the hotel at which we stayed!) and was based off the very home we toured. Built in 1668 by Salem sea captain and merchant John Turner, three generations of the Turner family lived in that very home until it was sold to Captain Samuel Ingersoll in 1782. When Ingersoll died at sea, his property was left to his daughter Susannah, one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s cousin. Since Susannah never married, the home and other inheritances from her father’s death were solely hers.
In 1908, the home was bought by Caroline Emmerton, a Salem native and philanthropist/preservationist, who restored the Turner-Ingersoll mansion and turned it into a museum to assist immigrant families settling in Salem. The gables after which the book was named were not all intact when Emmerton bought the home; in fact, only three existed when she bought the home. With the help of architect Joseph Everett Chandler, all seven gables were restored.
Today, the House of Seven Gables serves Express Yourself (Beverly, MA), Salem Cyberspace (Salem, MA), the Plummer Home for Boys (Salem, MA), and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church’s Family Self-Sufficiency Center (Salem, MA). These organizations provide music, dance, and visual arts; educational and career opportunities; vocational training programs; and literacy, community, and social independence, respectively, and serve mostly the young Latino population in Salem.
If any of you are familiar with the book, you’ll think that the house was just as described by Hawthorne. While not the case, when Emmerton was restoring the home, she added some features, including the shop off a wing of the home and a secret staircase that we actually got to walk through (and it was SO COOL).
Not far from the House of Seven Gables sits, among other things, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birthplace, built in the Gregorian style in 1750. The home actually used to be a few blocks over on Union Street, but was moved (yes, they moved a house!) in 1958 next door to the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion with the help of architectural historian and conservator, Abbott Lowell Cummings.
Hawthorne was born in that home on 4 July 1804 to Elizabeth and Nathaniel Hathorne. His father died on a voyage (not an uncommon occurrence in those times -- one in four women were widows who lost their husbands to sea -- when he was only five years old, leaving his mom with little wealth and three children. As a result, many of Hawthorne’s characters suffered the loss of one or both parents and are dependent on the good will of others for support.
You’ll notice that Hawthorne’s last name differs from his father’s, Hathorne. His ancestor, great-great-grandfather John Hathorne, was an executor in the Salem Witch Trials and the only one who never repented for his actions. It is believed that, in order to dissociate himself from his ancestor (who, as you can imagine, went to his death amidst must jubilation at that time after the Witch Trials came to a complete stop). However, Hawthorne did publish several works in 1830 under his original surname, so the reason why he changed it is up for debate.
More pictures from this tour! Unfortunately, there are no indoor shots of either home as photography was strictly prohibited.
[caption id="attachment_714" align="aligncenter" width="361" caption="If you couldn't tell, our tour was at 3:45pm."]
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Very interesting post! :)
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