House of the Seven Gables
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House of the Seven Gables
Historic District |
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_-_Salem,_Massachusetts.jpg)
The House of the Seven Gables, Salem, Massachusetts. View of front and side.
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| Location | Salem, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°31′19″N 70°53′5″W / 42.52194°N 70.88472°WCoordinates: 42°31′19″N 70°53′5″W / 42.52194°N 70.88472°W |
| Built | 1667 |
| Architect | Multiple |
| Architectural style | Colonial, Georgian |
| NRHP Reference # | 73000323 |
| Added to NRHP | May 8, 1973 |
The House of the Seven Gables (also known as the Turner House or Turner-Ingersoll Mansion), made famous by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables (1851), is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, named for its gables. The house is now a non-profit museum, with an admission fee charged for tours, as well as an active settlement house with programs for children. It was built for Captain John Turner and stayed with the family for three generations.
The earliest section of the House of the Seven Gables was built in 1667 for Capt. John Turner. It remained in his family for three generations, descending from John Turner II to John Turner III. Facing south towards Salem Harbor, it was originally a two-room, 2 1⁄2-story house with a projecting front porch and a massive central chimney. This portion now forms the middle of the house. Four windows of the original ground-floor room (which became a dining room) remain in the house's side wall.
A few years later, a kitchen lean-to and a new north kitchen ell to the rear of the house were added. By 1676, Turner had added a spacious south (front) extension with its own chimney, containing a parlor on the ground floor, with a large bed chamber above it. Ceilings in this new wing are higher than the very low ceilings in older parts of the house. The new wing featured double casement windows and an overhang with carved pendants; it was capped with a three-gabled garret.
In the first half of the 18th century, John Turner II remodeled the house in the new Georgian style, adding wood paneling and sash windows. These alterations are preserved, very early examples of Georgian decor. The House of the Seven Gables is one of the oldest surviving timber-framed mansion houses in continental North America, with 17 rooms and over 8,000 square feet (700 m2) including its large cellars.
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