Gedney House, 1665
21 High Street
Salem, Mass. 01970
GedneyHouse@HistoricNewEngland.org
Directions
Open 11am - 3pm on :
Saturday, June 7
Saturday, July 5
Saturday, August 2
Saturday, September 6
Saturday, October 4
Admission : Free on June 7; $5 other dates; Free to Historic New England members.
Group tours available with advanced reservations.
Please call 978-744-0440, June 1 through October 15.
Although the Gedney House displays the familiar oblong shape with
central chimney that is often associated with First Period
architecture, the original portion of the house was an asymmetrical
composition consisting of two one-room stories with gabled attic and
an attached parlor with lean-to roof.
Built in 1665, the well-crafted and sophisticated timber framed
house -- complete with binding and bridging summer beams, a large
number of connecting joints, and interior finish trim -- attests to
the wealth and social standing of the home's builder and first owner,
Eleazor Gedney. Gedney was a successful shipwright related by
marriage to John Turner, builder of the House of Seven Gables.
Around November of 1712, Gedney's daughter Martha was married and
the parlor lean-to was raised to a full two stories, the lean-to
chamber overhanging the parlor and street below. With the
accompanying removal of the front gable, the house achieved its
present shape, except for a rear two-story lean-to addition built
around 1800, when the overhang was also furred out.
The house is significant not only for its structural carpentry,
but also for its evidence of early decorative finishes in the hall
chamber and parlor. The introduction of lath and plaster ceilings,
beam casings, and paneled walls by the mid-18th century preserved the
colorful paint evidence underneath.
When SPNEA, now known as Historic New England, acquired the house in 1967, the later finish materials
had been stripped and the structural frame exposed. Three successive
color schemes, the earliest believed to be concurrent with the
house's construction, have been discovered in the hall chamber, each
emphasizing the room's framing in a different way. Conservation
measures taken by Historic New England and by the previous owner have been
color-coded dark green for identification purposes.
New in 2008: visit any of our Salem partners for a special discount.
Just show your Historic New England member card and save!
Discounts are available at the following Salem partners:
Cry Innocent
Performed at Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, Salem, Mass. 01970
Tel: (978) 867-4767
2-for-1 admission
Salem Wine Imports
32 Church Street, Salem, Mass. 01970
Tel: (978) 741-9463
10% off bottles / 15% off cases
The Salem Inn
7 Summer Street, Salem, Mass. 01970
Tel: (978) 741-0680
20% discount on any night except Saturday, June through September
For full details on membership discounts, please visit our 2008 North Shore member discount page.
