Historic doorways of Old Salem

by Mary Harrod Northend

The Boardman House

THE BOARDMAN HOUSE

Reference has already been made to the Boardman house at 82 Washington Square, East, as offered to Washington on his Salem visit in 1789. The porch is of the enclosed type, of the Tuscan order, with fluted pilasters, oval side-lights and a picket fence with tall gate-posts surmounted by the familiar urns. A light and homely touch is added in the trellises with their climbing vines which are set close against the house upon either side.

‘Oak Hill’

‘OAK HILL’

The present town of Danvers was originally part of Old Salem, and after its separation in 1752, Danvers included the present town of Peabody, which was set off in 1855. In the year 1800, while McIntire was producing his most beautiful and finished work, ‘Oak Hill,’ now in Peabody, was erected from his designs. It is now the summer residence of Mrs. J. C. Rogers, and contains throughout as complete and elaborate a wealth of detail from the wood-carver’s hand as can anywhere be found.

Reference has been made to the fact that craftsmen from the shipyards of Salem, skilled in the carving of figureheads and cabin decorations, sometimes found employment ashore in the service of architects and builders. The year when ‘Oak Hill’ was built marked the climax of Salem’s maritime importance. Carvings suggesting the familiar rope mouldings of ships’ cabins are found upon the balusters.

The porch of this beautiful house, with the exception of the modern doors, is a most complete and graceful composition. Fluted Ionic columns, four in number, support in pairs the front edge of the roof, while its rear rests upon pilasters grouped in the same way. The columns, as often in McIntire’s work, are slender for their height; but instead of appearing spindling, they seem to assume an airy grace which lightens and relieves the whole. A spider-web fanlight surmounts the door, and the leaded glass in the side-lights is heart-shaped—a unique and charming feature.