Phillips House 2024
34 Chestnut Street
978-744-0440
www.historicnewengland.org
In 1821 four intact rooms from an earlier house were transported by ox sled to Salem’s fashionable Chestnut Street to form the core of a new Federal-style mansion being built by Captain Nathaniel West. Nearly a century later, Anna Phillips bought the house and launched a fourteen-month renovation in the Colonial Revival style. Today Phillips House is the only mansion open to the public on Chestnut Street.
When Anna Phillips, her husband Stephen Willard Phillips, and their five-year-old son moved in, they brought with them a family collection that spans five generations and grew exponentially during Salem’s Great Age of Sail. Enjoy a glimpse into the privileged world of the Phillips family and their staff during the early decades of the twentieth century. The kitchen, pantry, and a domestic staff bedroom, present a rarely seen picture of how great houses functioned as new technologies were being introduced.
Visit the only open mansion on historic Chestnut Street. Open Thursday through Sunday, and Mondays in October. Experience over 200 years of Salem history, antique cars, and carriages.
Guided Tours Thursday – Sunday, Mondays in October
Self-Guided Tours start in the afternoons September 26
Open Halloween Week 11am – 4pm
Thursday through Sunday, June – September. Thursday through Monday, September 26th – October. (Also open: Tuesday, October 29 Wednesday, October 30 Thursday, October 31)
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m
Open Halloween until 3:00 p.m. Advanced ticket purchase recommended
Admission: $20 adults / $15 seniors and students / $10 youth (6-12) / 5 and under free
Free for Historic New England members and Salem residents.
Gedney House 2024
Salem shipwright Eleazer Gedney built the earliest portion of Gedney House in 1665. Originally the house was asymmetrical, with two rooms on the first floor, a single chamber above, and an attic with a front-facing gable. Significant renovations in 1712 and 1800 resulted in dramatic changes to the house’s appearance. Gedney House is significant both for its framing and for its evidence of early decorative finishes in the hall chamber and parlor. It is also one of only two extant buildings with ties to the Salem Witch Trials.
Gedney House was a single-family home and operated as a tavern until the Gedney family sold it in 1773 to Benjamin Cox, who used it for the next twenty-five years as an investment property. Around 1800, Cox added two townhouse-style ells to the west elevation of the house, converting it into a multi-family dwelling. During the years that followed, it served as a boarding house and tenement in what was then Salem’s Italian-American neighborhood. In 1967 Historic New England acquired the house as it was being prepared for demolition.
First Saturday of the Month June through September. Saturdays September 28th – October 26th.
11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m
Advanced ticket purchase recommended
Admission: $10 adults / $9 seniors and students / $5 youth (6-12) / 5 and under free
Free for Historic New England members and Salem residents.
