One flight below the attic is the great chamber, Phœbe's room in the story. This splendid, great, sunny room has fine panelling, dating from about 1720, and good examples of early furniture. To give an idea of how the room looked when first built the guide moves aside the Queen Anne mirror and opens a small door behind it, cut in the wall of the room. This reveals one of the great supporting posts, which is roughly carved in mediæval manner. This post, with its companion beams and posts, once stood out in the room, but since the panelling was put in, that is nearly two hundred years ago, it has been hidden from sight. This silent witness indicates the great age of the house, which has outlived so many styles and fashions. Another flight below is the parlor or "grand reception room," as it was called.
In the story it is described as unfurnished—an empty room that Miss Hepzibah was too poor to heat, where Clifford took his exercise on rainy days. Into this room the hero Holgrave drew little Phœbe, that she might not enter the living-room and have the shock of discovering Judge Pyncheon sitting there dead. One forgets about the story in admiring the very happy color scheme of this finely proportioned room. The wall-paper is gray, a reproduction of some wall-paper found in the house. The graceful little classical groups indicate that it was designed in the early part of the last century. Against the gray wall-paper and fine white painted panelling, the red curtains at the three windows are seen in pleasant contrast. They are a wonderfully soft yet brilliant red, with a beautiful brocaded design. A set of Sheraton chairs covered with black figured hair-cloth give character to the room, and the warm Turkey rug on the floor helps to carry out the color scheme.
The fireplace in this room is of especial interest. It is large, but the guide opens a wood closet and shows that the original fireplace was very much larger. At the right of the fireplace opens a quaintly panelled door, disclosing a buffet with a carved shell overhead and shelves crowded with delicate and beautiful old china, while on the floor of the closet an array of ginger jars reminds one of the Salem ships that brought home such good things from the East. One is also reminded of the East by the lacquered work-box, chess-board, and teapoys. In front of a slant-top desk stands Hawthorne's favorite chair. It looks so comfortable that we can readily believe that he would select it when making a call on his cousin.
Her portrait looks down on the chair. Hers is an unusual face, striking though hardly beautiful. Was she the original of Miss Hepzibah? Her lonely life in this old, gabled house, the wealth of affection she bestowed on a weak and selfish man, certainly suggest that Hawthorne had his cousin in mind when he drew this character.
After a lingering inspection of the parlor, which looks so homelike because, like the dining-room, it is really lived in by the settlement residents, the visitor passes out the front door to study the exterior of the house and enjoy the old-fashioned garden.
The first object of interest is the overhanging second story. The "overhang," as it is called, was closed in, probably for a century or more, simply because overhangs had gone out of fashion. It was accidentally discovered when the house was repaired by the carpenter, who was examining the soundness of the sills. Some of the old clapboards can still be seen, and a small piece of the drops which originally ornamented the corner posts. The present drops are reproductions, except a bit of the old drops that were left to nail to.
At the end of the garden, which is bright with old-fashioned flowers, stands the counting-house. This is a small building found on the estate in use as a wood-shed. Its age and previous history are not known, but as it is of the same size and shape as the old counting-house mentioned in the inventories of the Turner family, it has been furnished to represent it. There is the master's desk, a wonderful affair with many secret drawers, the clerk's desk, and armchairs, models of ships, a barometer, a telescope, etc.
Adjoining the counting-house is a grape arbor, where the visitor can refresh himself with a cup of tea, and while he sits there enjoy a view of the harbor across the garden. On his left is the House of the Seven Gables, and on his right is another old house used for the settlement clubs and classes. It is the Hathaway house, dating from 1683, but that is another story.