This 17th Century Salem Mansion Inspired Hawthorne’s Famous Novel About Dark Family Secrets

The House of the Seven Gables, Massachusetts

You don’t need to read Hawthorne to appreciate The House of Seven Gables. This 17th-century Salem landmark started as a merchant’s show-off home in 1668. Then it got interesting. Think secret stairs hidden rooms and enough drama to inspire one of America’s most famous gothic novels.

Simple First, Expensive Later

Captain John Turner I started with just two rooms on two floors with a single pointed roof in 1668. As he made more money from shipping tea, spices, and furs, he kept adding furnishings to his home.

The Turner family included expensive details like carved wooden decorations on the staircase, fancy trim around the ceilings, and even a fake door on the second floor to show everyone how successful they were.

The house underwent further changes under Captain Samuel Ingersoll in 1792 who removed the gables and instead added Federal style elements.

Behind the Dining Bookcase

If you look carefully in the dining room, there’s something hidden behind the bookcase. When a specific mechanism is engaged, the bookcase pivots or slides to reveal the entrance.

This was added during renovations by Caroline Emmerton (in the early 20th century) to reflect features described in Hawthorne’s 1851 novel. Upon opening the bookcase, a steep and narrow staircase is revealed, leading directly to the upper floors of the mansion.

Hawthorne’s Cousin Inspired a Novel

The character of Hepzibah Pyncheon in The House of the Seven Gables may have been inspired by Susanna Ingersoll’s (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s cousin) own life as an independent woman managing a household.

She owned the house from 1811 to 1858. When Hawthorne visited her in the 1840s, she would tell him stories about the old mansion. Most of them inspired ideas for his Gothic novel, retaining real details about the house and its connection to the Salem Witch Trials.

The House Almost Disappeared

By 1870, this beautiful mansion was falling apart. The wooden walls were rotting, four of the pointed roofs had fallen down, and the house was worth only $2,000.

Caroline Emmerton stepped in to save it in 1908, paying $17,000 for the property.

She hired an expert named Joseph Chandler to fix up the house, and he rebuilt the missing roofs, fixed the damaged walls, and carefully matched new details to the original style using clues found in the old house.

Explore the Historic Gardens

The house’s Colonial Revival-style gardens were established in 1909 by Joseph Chandler. Today you’ll see plant species that were common in the 1600s, brimming with damask roses and peonies.

While the central garden showcases a Jacobean-style knot design bordered by wooden beams, the seaside lawn gives picturesque views of the Salem Harbor.

Though Chandler initiated the garden design, landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff added the wisteria arbor in 1924, and Daniel Foley in the late 1950s introduced brick pathways and boxwoods.

A Photographer Captured the House

In 1939, Walker Evans took 12 striking black-and-white photos of the mansion. These pictures, which you can now find in the Library of Congress, show how the house looked right after it was fixed up.

Evans focused on small details like the fancy wooden trim and huge chimneys, and how sunlight played across the old wooden siding. People still use these photos today when they need to repair or restore parts of the house.

The Owner Built a Secret Room

John Turner I built a hidden storage room behind a fireplace on the second floor. This secret space, which measured 6 feet by 8 feet, could only be reached through a small door in the wall.

In the 1670s, merchants like Turner often built hidden rooms to protect their valuable goods from pirates and thieves who came to Salem’s port.

Nobody found this secret room for over 200 years until workers discovered it during repairs.

The Mansion Escaped a Major Fire

On June 25, 1914, a terrible fire swept through Salem, burning down more than 1376 buildings across 253 acres and leaving almost 18,000 people homeless.

The fire began in a shed at the Korn Leather Factory on Boston Street. Yet the House of the Seven Gables survived.

The house made it through because it sat at the edge of town near Salem Harbor, and local firefighters worked hard to protect it. While flames destroyed many nearby buildings, this historic mansion remained standing.

Old Account Book Reveals

John Turner II kept a detailed record of everything he bought from 1769 to 1770 in a leather book. His list includes fancy items like Chinese tea sets shipped from far away, as well as everyday things like locally made candles. He wrote down every expense, from furniture brought over from England to regular tasks like cleaning the chimneys.

Salem Witch Trial Claims

As a young man, John Turner II also played a role in the Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in 1692. He did not make any accusations himself, but one of the accusers,

John Proctor’s servant Mary Warren, claimed that the elderly widow Ann Pudeator had bewitched Turner, causing him to fall from a cherry tree.

After he passed away in 1742, the house was inherited by his son, John Turner III.