In Salem, Massachusetts, there is something to do every day in October. Being the premier month for all Halloween and witch-oriented activity, there are just as many people sporting fake blood or pointy witch hats as there are non-costumed visitors waiting in lengthy lines outside the numerous attractions throughout the city. The eventful witch trials of 1692 seem to take the forefront of many tourist spots, but Salem is much more than just a place of brief mass hysteria. The historic properties featured in PEM’s Shelter to Showpiece Tour give visitors a glimpse into three different houses from three different centuries in Salem’s past.
We meet for the tour in PEM’s sunlit atrium, a peaceful respite from the buzzing activity of the witchy city. The clean white interior feels fresh, like a pristine box containing priceless artifacts in the adjacent galleries. PEM is the 6th largest museum in the US and was founded in 1799 by the East India Marine Society made up of 28 ship-owners, captains, and supercargoes. After years of expansion and a merger with the Essex Institute in 1992, the museum currently owns 24 historic properties.
Visitors can take the Shelter to Showpiece tour for no additional charge after purchasing regular museum admission. Our guide, Jo Ann Silva, greets us before we cross the bustling Essex Street seasonal market and venture past the countless ghouls, goblins, and a saxophone-playing skeleton. Just steps away sits the first stop on the tour, the John Ward House.
The diamond-shaped panes glisten in the autumnal sun and the sharp, angular roof is reminiscent of another popular Salem house—Hawthorne’s The House of Seven Gables. Pink rose hips lining the front walkway are a vibrant contrast to the dark brown slats on the house’s sides. Our guide asks the group, “Does this house look symmetrical?” We stare silently at the shape before us and a few members of the group notice size distinctions between the right and left side of the house—a result of John Ward building each side at different times, starting in 1684.
The house was originally located on Prison Lane. Its occupants were privy to the ongoing criminal proceedings, often seeing their neighbors arrested. In order to protect themselves and display their devotion to the Puritanical society, prayer meetings were held at the Ward House, sometimes fitting 44 chairs inside the modest central room with a fireplace. In the corner sits a bed with ropes woven in-and-out of the frame to support the mattress and is collapsible to accommodate space.
In the kitchen on the other side of the house, Silva points out that it is outfitted with a mixture of authentic and reproduced pieces. A clockjack waiting to cook the day’s dinner and a table set with flatware and wooden plates for those lucky ones to eat it. Silva is very knowledgeable and friendly when answering questions about the pieces in the kitchen. She has been a PEM volunteer guide for 2 years and the historical information seems to be infused in her, coming easily like someone listing their name and address. She integrates the historical fact like she is telling a story, nicely balancing entertainment and education.
We walk to the second house a few hundred feet away, passing under a large lilac bush and around the lively costumed visitors taking selfies around sculptor Patrick Dougherty’s stickwork, “What the Birds Know.” As we stand in front of the Crowninshield-Bentley House, it is clear that we have moved another century forward in time. Like the John Ward House, the Crowninshield-Bentley House was also restored and moved from its original location behind the current Hawthorne Hotel. The yellow colonial-style house takes us to the 1700s with décor and furnishings. Silk damask curtains drape around the windows, while in stark contrast to the sturdy, simple slatted wooden chairs in the John Ward House, the upholstered furniture means comfort was part of the lifestyle at this time. There is even a “lolling chair” for relaxation.
Silva often engages with the group in guessing games about the historic artifacts in the house. In one of these instances, she pointed to a wooden pole in the kitchen with a low bar and some sort of yoke attached on the end. “Can anyone guess what goes in there?” she asks the group.
“An animal?” suggests one woman.
Silva smiles and says, “A human animal.” The device, though slightly terrifying by its shape and design from a modern perspective, is understandable that back then it would be a relief to busy women in the kitchen with little ones.
The third house visited is the Gardner-Pingree House. Built in 1804, it is a clear example of Federal style architecture. Architect Samuel McIntire designed the house, including intricate elements like gold on the sidelights and on the window above the transom around the front door, while the grand round portico is a departure from the previous two houses’ simple, plain front door entrances.
Upon entering the Gardner-Pingree House, moving forward in time is evident through the magnificent seafoam foyer. A long staircase wraps alongside the left side of the hall and ornate moldings with carvings of wheat frame the doorways. “There is slightly different character in each room,” Silva tells the group. Though each room may be slightly different, one theme certainly runs throughout the whole house: elegance. Displaying wealth was common in this period, especially through hosting extravagant tea parties to showcase the extensive fine china sets. In the dining room off the foyer, Silva points out two wooden boxes on a credenza. The group guesses what is inside, before we are enlightened that McIntire built these boxes specifically to showoff cutlery collections. “The house is almost perfectly restored to its time,” Silva says. Furniture, drapery, and smaller items like dishes, ledger books, and vases on mantels look arranged to perfection within each room.
The hour spent touring three centuries of historic architecture makes you forget about the seasonal chaos outside. It is a nice reminder that there weren’t just witches in Salem’s history, but all types of merchants and businessmen that helped make the city what it is. Preserving these historic buildings give visitors a brief, but important visit into the past.
For more information on Peabody Essex Museum’s historic houses, click here.
Visit the PEM website and view their calendar of events.
Want more historic houses? See Wordsby’s feature on PEM’s Ropes Mansion (yes, the house from Hocus Pocus)
Originally featured in Wordsby Arts & Culture News.
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