Historic New England: Defining the Past. Shaping the Future.

Gedney House, 1665
21 High Street
Salem, Mass. 01970
GedneyHouse@HistoricNewEngland.org

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Open

Tours on the hour, last tour at 3

Free to Historic New England members.

Group tours available with advanced reservations. Please call 978-744-0440.

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.

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

Cornerstone Books
45 Lafayette Street, Salem, Mass., 01970
Tel: (978) 744-1831
10% discount on your purchase

In a Pig�s Eye
148 Derby Street, Salem, Mass., 01970
Tel: (978) 741-4436
Free Soup or Chowder with purchase of a meal; One free item per membership card; One card will not cover a free item for the whole party

Salem Wine Imports
32 Church Street, Salem, Mass. 01970
Tel: (978) 741-9463
5% off bottles / 15% off cases

The Salem Inn
7 Summer Street, Salem, Mass. 01970
Tel: (978) 741-0680
20% discount off any night�s stay June 1, 2009 � May 31, 2010;
Exclusions: The month of October, Saturday nights June 1-September 2009

For full details on membership discounts, please visit our North Shore member discount page.

Headquarters � 141 Cambridge Street � Boston, MA 02114 � (617) 227-3956