This house is the inspiration for Salem author Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The House of the Seven Gables. It was owned by a sea captain and merchant, John Turner. In 1910, a local activist and philanthropist bought the house, restored it, and turned it into a settlement home for immigrants. It is now a nonprofit museum owned and operated by The House of the Seven Gables Association and also serves as a settlement house with programs for the local immigrant community, including ESL and citizenship classes.
The museum offers guided or self-guided mansion tours and access to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birth home next door.
