The House of Seven Gables

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What a nice day we are having in Salem but the afternoon is passing quickly. Following our lunch at Murphy’s we explored the waterfront with the replica Friendship,

 admired the Custom House with the fierce Eagle emblem glittering in gold.

 But there was one last place that we just had to check out before we turned our eyes back south and headed home. That was the House of Seven Gables.

We didn’t have time for the tour and having just finished one  “old House Tour” we opted for exterior views only. I have taken the tour in the past and it is interesting.  Maybe next trip  there will be time for that tour too.

The House of Seven Gables was a real house. Not just a construct for a novel. The opening lines of the novel are the perfect description of the ancient mansion.

The novel begins:

“Halfway down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst. The street is Pyncheon Street; the house is the old Pyncheon House; and an elm-tree, of wide circumference, rooted before the door, is familiar to every town-born child by the title of the Pyncheon Elm.”

The Pyncheon family actually existed and were ancestors of American novelist Thomas Pyncheon.

At the time the novel was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the House  was owned by his cousin Susanna Ingersoll whose  ancestors were involved in the persecutions of the innocents during the Salem Witch Trials. Hawthorne was plagued by guilt over the part his family played in those terrible years and some believe this to be the reason for the tone of the novel. His novel explores land fraud, depression, ghosts and by innuendo, witchcraft.

At the time that I toured the mansion many years ago, the novel was fresh in my mind so I could appreciate the references made by the tour guides. One thing that really stands out in my memory is the secret staircase. At the time that I took the tour this tiny secret passage was open to the public via the tours. Since we didn’t take the tour this time I don’t know if that is still the case. I think I will re-read the novel before I go back for a return tour.

Also on the grounds and visible from the street is another period home that has been restored. Not as grand as the Seven Gables, which was considered a mansion, Hawthorne’s boyhood home sits were it can view the building he immortalized. This is another example of the traveling buildings of Salem. His home was relocated to this spot to preserve it for its historical value.

I can just imagine touring the 2 buildings on a gloomy, rainy day. Throw in a little thunder and lightning and I bet we could all become believers in ghosts and witches.

Tale of two Salems

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Salem Ma has two different personas. On the one hand there’s the culture and history while on the other hand there’s the paranormal Salem of witches and ghosts and goblins.

You really can’t blame the town for having a split personality considering the tragic events of the Salem Witch Hysteria.  In 1692 Colonial New England and especially Salem were caught up in a hysteria that captured the attention of the world and not in a good way.

The events of that time have now come to symbolize  intolerance and injustice and the consequences of not having  checks and balances in the legal system. Imagine, based on the accusations of a few girl,s hundreds were accused of witchcraft, friends were pitted against friends and over 10 months twenty innocent men and women were put to death.

Today Salem is a vibrant community that has embraced the lessons of the past. Tolerance and acceptance is the norm. The downtown witch shops cater to  Pagans and visitors can have their fortunes read next door to a museum, restaurants and a National Park. There are push carts and vendors and this is even without a visit in October.

In October the energy climbs as the city is filled with visitors celebrating the Haunted Happenings of Halloween.

On our visit we made only a brief detour into Crow Haven Corner to look around. The rest of the day was spent exploring the PEM (Peabody Essex Museum),

 visiting the restored homes from the 17th, 18th and 19th century,

 wandering the waterfront and enjoying lunch at Murphy’s with their outdoor seating.

There’s something for everyone and the city is easy to maneuver. It’s walkable, which was our choice, or you can take the trolley or even ride around the town on a Segway.

 The day came to close with a pumpkin latte. A perfect ending!

Just beware…when it comes to Halloween no place does it better!

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Figure Heads

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One of my favorite exhibits is the East India Hall in the Peabody/Essex Museum.

That hall is huge, almost like a ballroom, well-lit and spacious. Mounted on the walls are artifacts (today we might cal them souvenirs) from the adventures these ships experienced while roaming the 7 seas.

As they explored new worlds and strange cultures they immortalized the people they met in life-sized carved statues that were mounted on the bows of the ships. A wide variety of these figureheads have been collected and are displayed in this room.

The figurehead embodied the spirit of a ship and was originally believed to placate the gods of the sea and ensure a safe voyage. Almost every prow had a carved figure looking down at the waves, and the variety was immense.

A large figurehead, being carved from massive wood and perched on the very foremost tip of the hull, adversely affected the sailing qualities of the ship.

In Germany, Belgium, and Holland, it was once believed that spirits/faeries called Kaboutermannekes (water fairies) dwelt in the figureheads.  The spirit guarded the ship from sickness, rocks, storms, and dangerous winds.

 If the ship sank, the Kaboutermannekes guided the sailors’ souls to the Land of the Dead. To sink without a Kaboutermanneke condemned the sailor’s soul to haunt the sea forever, so Dutch sailors believed. A similar belief was found in early Scandinavia/Vikings.

3 Centuries of New England Life

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One thing  that you will learn as you wander through the historic and vintage homes and buildings is that Salem likes to move their buildings around. They have a long-standing tradition that when a historic building is scheduled  for demolition someone seems to step up and with a twitch of a nose or a wave of a wand the building materializes in a new location.

Well, maybe not quite like that but there are certainly many examples of buildings being saved from the wrecking ball by being donated or otherwise acquired by a museum (The PEM) or attraction (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s house) on the grounds of the House of the 7 Gables.

The Peabody Essex Museum has been a pioneer in the acquisition, relocation, restoration, and interpretation of historic environments. One of the first examples was the Quaker Meeting House which was acquired in 1865 and reconstructed using what is thought to be the beams from the original First Church. This was followed in 1910 by the John Ward House.

The John Ward House was split in two and rolled on ox-drawn logs from its original site about 3 blocks to its present location. Restored and put back together, the building opened to the public in 1911. The building features typical 17 century furnishings.

The low ceilings, batten door and diamond-paned leaded glass casement windows typify the architecture of this period. This was the era of the Puritan, austerity was prized and money wasn’t everything. Life was simple and the functional emphasis of the building style and furnishings complimented the day-to-day living of these early settlers.

Moving on to the 18th century the housing style was more “English” and it was clear that a middle class was developing. In fact the architectural style is known as Georgian after King George. The old “batten” door is gone and the windows are now double hung sash windows that can be raised and lowered. Dormers or gables appeared in the gambrel roof.

Inside the furnishing are more advanced. Signs of wealth on display. Various classes were developing; the merchant class , the artisan, the farmer.

The last of the homes visited was by far the grandest. By this time in the 19th century the accumulation of wealth, as today had become of great importance and those who were succesful wanted all to know it. Newly independent and no longer colonies the building styles began to change. We were looking for our own identities and borrowed freely from other cultures. Greek revival with its columns or pilasters and ornate porticos became a popular style for the wealthy ship owners and merchants. Brick also came into fashion as a building material.

Inside the furnishing were much more lavish and ornate.

A tradition of adding an ivory button on the balustrade when the mortgage was paid developed so all of your neighbors would see when they came to visit.

Salem’s architectual heritage is rich and varied. These are just 3 of the many restored buildings that are spread throughout Salem. Look around and you’ll find examples of many other builing styles and architecture.

To take this 3 house tour through the centuries visit the Peabody/Essex museum.

The Peabody/Essex Museum

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The Peabody / Essex Museum aka the PEM is located in Salem, Ma. and is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States.

The origins of the museum date to 1799 when a group of sea captains formed the East India Marine Society. Members of the society were required to collect “natural and artificial curiosities” from beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn during their sea voyages.

 Due to the age of the institution many of the collections are truly rare and wonderous with outstanding  provenance for such old pieces.

The museum also collects and maintains a number of historic buildings. Currently the list stands at 24 historic homes and gardens. The museum was truly ahead of its time. One of the earliest examples of preserving a historic building was the John Ward House which was saved from demolition by splitting it in half, relocating it and then reassembling the building at its current location. A pleasant and informative tour of three of the buildings is a worthwhile add on to your visit.

Inside the museum the collections and exhibits range from the Gallery of Figureheads (my personal favorite) to a Chinese house. Some of the permanent collections include extensive maritime art, American Decorative art, Asian and Japanese Art, Native American Art, Hawaiian Art and the list goes on. A perfect example of the diversity of the exhibits is the beaded gown.

When you look closely you realize it is all shell work. Across the room is an artist’s conception of the world as it looks from space.

The atrium of the museum is spacious and airy, the window coverings evoking the sails of the tall ships that were so important to developing the trade that brought the first collections to Salem. You can enjoy a snack in the cafe or sit on a comfortable bench as you wait for the docent to lead a tour.

One particularly beautiful piece is the animated clock. It is amazing just to look at it but next to the clock is a display that shows the clock working. Of course they don’t have the display clock work now, even though it says it can, for they want to preserve it but this little demo isn’t a bad substitute. It made me appreciate the fine workmanship even more.

As we waited for our tour back to the 17th, 18th and 19th century the sun shown through a large window onto a sculpture of a horse. A lovely peice in a lovely setting.