Dodge-Barstow-West House (1802)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Salem

Built for merchant Pickering Dodge around 1802, the Federal-style Dodge-Barstow-West House, at 25 Chestnut Street in Salem, was later owned by the Barstow family and was purchased in 1895 by George S. West. A photograph by Frank Cousins of the house’s doorway was featured in The Architectural Record (vol. XLII, no. V, 1917), with the following description by Phil M. Riley:

The half-oval porch of the George West house, 25 Chestnut street, presents a distinctly pleasing type for modern adaptation. The proportions are excellent, the detail simple and carefully spaced. The paneled door with its graceful welcoming sidelights and fanlight is broad and typical of the best in Salem. The steps are of granite, with an extremely fine wrought-iron railing.

Old North Congregational Church, Marblehead (1825)

by Dan//Churches, Federal, Marblehead

Marblehead’s first meeting house was built in 1648, when the town was still part of Salem. In 1684, the church in Marblehead became separate from the First Church in Salem. In 1695, the original wood meeting house on Old Burial Hill was replaced by a new building on Franklin Street. A lot was purchased on Washington Street in 1821 and the current stone church building was constructed in 1824-1825. It is known as Old North Congregational Church because a separate second congregation was later formed to the south. The church originally had brown ashlar walls on all four sides, but the granite front facade was added later. The church has a golden cod weather vane. In 1969, the church’s silver, including a baptismal bowl made by Paul Revere, was stolen and eventually returned upon payment of ransom money.

Captain Samuel Fowler House (1809)

by Dan//Danvers, Federal, Houses

Describing Danversport, a section of Danvers, the 1916 Handbook of New England mentions that, “opposite the Baptist Church and facing the square is the Samuel Fowler house, a square brick structure built in 1809 and since 1912 the property of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. It is a fine old house in perfect preservation and occupied by the Misses Fowler, who are very liberal in the privileges they grant to callers who wish to inspect the house.” The two unmarried Fowlers had been granted life occupancy of the house, even as it was converted into a museum. Fowler was a local industrialist. As SPNEA founder, William Sumner Appleton, explained in the Society’s Bulletin, vol. III no. 1 (1912):

In 1799 he bought the land on which the house stands, and began investing in mills, two corn mills and a saw mill. His holdings of real estate were frequently added to, and he became interested in a total of five mills. He was the first to start the tanning industry in this part of Danvers, and with seven others shared the cost of building the bridge now known as Liberty Bridge. He was public-spirited and ever ready to aid financially such enterprises as tended to improve the village and town.

Some members were concerned that this second SPNEA acquisition was not grand enough for a Society purchase. In response, Appleton explained,

As might be expected, the Fowler home reflects the simple tastes of its owner. As seen from the square the house is as severely simple as it could be. It depends for its effect on its very simplicity and admirable proportions. […] The principal features of the house may be said to be simplicity, good taste, solid construction, splendid preservation, and homogeneity.

In a letter of May 1, 1923, writer H. P. Lovecraft described his visit to the house. Led by “Sibylline wraiths of decay’d gentry,” he was even able to try a coat and Capt. Fowler’s cap from the War of 1812! The house, no longer owned by the SPNEA, is now a private residence.

Col. John Page House (1793)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Salem

Built for Col. John Page, the gambrel-roofed house at 335 Essex Street in Salem dates to around 1793. As explained in “Early Recollections of the Upper Portion of Essex Street,” by Oliver Thayer, in Historical Collections of the Essex Institute (vol. XXI, nos. 7, 8, 9, 1884), the house was “for many years, the home of Capt. Thomas Holmes and then of Mr. Abbott Walker. It is now in the possession of Mr. Frank Cousins” Frank Cousins was a photographer and co-author of books such as The Wood-Carver of Salem: Samuel McIntire His Life and Work (1916) and The Colonial Architecture of Salem (1919). Continue reading “Col. John Page House (1793)”

General Gideon Foster House (1810)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Peabody

General Gideon Foster was a leader during the Revolutionary War from South Danvers, now Peabody. Leading the militia of South Danvers, he marched to the Battle of Lexington and Concord, fighting the British during their retreat to Boston at the Battle of Menotomy. He and his men also resupplied American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Foster was made a General of Militia after the War. In 1815, he purchased a house, built in 1810 on Washington Street in South Danvers, and lived there from 1818 to 1831. During this time, Foster ran the grist, bark and chocolate mills that he had inherited from his father. After his death, others owned the house, which was acquired by the Peabody Historical Society in 1916 and continues to serve as its headquarters and museum.