House of Seven Gables

A Brief History: The House of Seven Gables is located at 115 Derby Street in Salem Massachusetts. The house was built in 1668. It is an octagonal structure and was built by Captain John Turner and it stayed in the Turner’s family for 3 generations.  The house was made famous in 1851 when an author by the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the book The House of Seven Gables. Nathaniel’s relatives the Ingersoll’s had purchased the house after the Turner family had lost their fortune. Hawthorne was always mesmerized by the structure of his relative’s mansion and the three Gables he had discovered.  His cousin Susan told him the history of the house and how it used to have seven Gables and that’s where he came up with the name for his book. A Gable is a part of a wall enclosed at the end of a pitched roof, which gives the house the octagonal appearance.

                     Today the house is one of the oldest surviving timber framed mansion houses in continental North American. The house is now a non-profit museum that holds tours to explain its history for a low charge. It is also an active settlement house with many programs for children that teach them about the history of the house and of Salem.

Haunted History: The houses name is also referred to as the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, which are the two previous occupants of the house that may still roam the property today! Susan Ingersoll lived in the house until she was 72 years old. Many people have claimed to see her ghost roaming around the house, and she has even been spotted in some of the windows. There have also been sights of a ghostly boy in the attic area.  Visitors have often been alarmed by the sound of running back and forth in the attic and the noise of toys being played with. Also many claims of toilets flushing on their own and faucets turning on by themselves have been reported.