Salem – Page 12 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Captain Stephen Phillips House (1805)

by Dan/December 6, 2010January 25, 2020/Federal, Houses, Salem

The brick Federal-style house of Captain Stephen Phillips, at 17 Chestnut Street in Salem, was built in 1804-1805, the construction being supervised by Parley Putnam. Capt. Phillips was a merchant who helped to create the neighborhood on Chestnut Street. Salem mayor and U.S. Representative Stephen C. Phillips later resided in the house, which remained in the Phillips family until 1883. It was next owned by Benjamin D. Shreve. His descendants still reside there.

Clark-Morgan-Benson House (1729)

by Dan/December 1, 2010January 25, 2020/Colonial, Houses, Salem

Built around 1729, replacing and reusing timbers from a previous house at the same location that had burned, the Clark-Morgan-Benson House is one of the oldest surviving buildings on Essex Street in Salem. Built by Joseph Neal, the house has been enlarged over time and has two substantial ells, forming a U-shape, the ell on the western elevation having a gambrel roof like the front facade. In the nineteenth century, the dwelling was divided between the Clark and Morgan families and was later owned, undivided, for much of the twentieth century by the Benson family.

Josiah Woodbury House (1774)

by Dan/November 30, 2010January 25, 2020/Colonial, Houses, Salem

Typical of houses of its period, including in its entryway, is the Josiah Woodbury House, on Broad Street in Salem, built around 1774. Woodbury was a mason and the house stayed in his family until 1815. The house has a rear ell of a type known as a Beverly Jog.

Buffington-Goodhue-Wheatland House (1785)

by Dan/November 29, 2010January 25, 2020/Colonial, Houses, Salem

The Buffington-Goodhue-Wheatland House, at 374 Essex Street in Salem, was built around 1785 or earlier for Capt. Nehemiah Buffington, who died in 1832. It soon passed to Benjamin Goodhue, who moved the house forward to be closer to Essex Street. He also added the Greek Revival-style entrance. The house was in the Wheatland family from 1849 to early in the twentieth century.

Curwen/Gillis House (1854)

by Dan/November 27, 2010January 25, 2020/Houses, Italianate, Salem

At 331-333 Essex Street in Salem is the Italianate-style Curwen/Gillis Double House, built by the Curwen family around 1854. Today, the Curwen House has eleven guest rooms and is one of three buildings operated by the Salem Inn.

Y.M.C.A. Building, Salem (1898)

by Dan/November 24, 2010November 25, 2010/Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, Organizations, Salem

In 1873, Alexander Graham Bell took up residence in the Sanders Homestead on Essex Street in Salem. The house was home to the grandmother of Bell’s deaf pupil George Sanders, whose father, Thomas Sanders, became an investor in Bell’s telephone system. Until 1876, Bell used a room in the Sanders House to conduct the experiments which led to his development of the telephone. The house was later torn down and in 1898 a Y.M.C.A. building was completed on the site. Designed by architect Walter J. Paine of Beverly, it combines elements of the Beaux-Arts and Colonial Revival styles. The building originally had an elaborate fourth-story loggia, since removed. The Y.M.C.A. Building also houses the North Shore Children’s Museum.

Robinson-Little House (1808)

by Dan/November 23, 2010January 25, 2020/Federal, Houses, Salem

Around 1808-9, mason James Nichols built a brick Federal residence at 10 Chestnut Street in Salem for Nathan Robinson, a merchant. He lived there until the 1830s, after which other families owned the house. From 1890 to 1939, it was home to Philip Little, an artist who was a friend and neighbor to the American Impressionist painter, Frank W. Benson. The house’s Greek Revival entrance was added around 1855.