The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association

The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association is the nonprofit that runs Salem’s famous House of the Seven Gables, the 1668 harborfront mansion that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel. The association gives tours of the house, presents public programs and events, and maintains seaside colonial revival gardens and lawns where visitors can relax. It also offers function and meeting space on its historic campus, along with a museum gift shop.

The association carries on the work of Caroline Emmerton, the Salem philanthropist who restored the mansion in 1910 and opened it as both a museum and a settlement house for immigrant families. Today it provides free English as a Second Language and citizenship classes for adults, teaching language, culture and legal essentials to help newcomers settle into life in the U.S. It also cares for more than 3,000 works of art, furnishings and ephemera, as well as an archive of documents and books.

What to Know

• The two-acre campus became a National Historic Landmark District in 2007.
• Language classes extend beyond English, including a Spanish class for adult beginners at levels A1 and A2.
• The mansion was originally built by merchant and ship-owner John Turner.
• Seasonal programs include candlelit after-hours tours of the mansion.
• The site holds a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice award.