In Praise Of: Historic Homes in Salem, Massachusetts

We went to Salem, Massachusetts, for the witchy stuff, but we stayed for the historic homes in this gorgeous seaside town.

Salem, Massachusetts, was settled by Europeans in 1626.

It is most well known for the witch trials of 1692 in which 19 people were hanged for false accusations of witchcraft. Later, during the American Revolutionary War, close to 800 ships were commissioned as privateers and were credited with capturing or destroying nearly 600 British vessels.

Today, Salem is a tourist town. In addition to several witch-related museums and attractions, it is home to The House of Seven Gables and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

The extra great thing about Salem if you are a tourist is that it is completely walkable. The attractions are clustered closely together and there are sidewalks or paths everywhere you need to go.

And on your way to these attractions, you’ll be able to see many gorgeous historic homes.

Each of these historic homes has a placard on it listing the date it was built and who built it.

We did see a home constructed in the 1600s, but most of them that we paid attention to were built in the 1700s and 1800s.

This house carried the Salem, Massachusetts, vibe particularly well.

Many of the homes have been converted into multi-family dwellings, which makes sense given their size and the population density of the greater Boston area.

I also loved how colorful the homes were. While I love our white farmhouse, it is so fun to see an eclectic array of historic homes all boasting different color schemes.

If you ever want ideas on what colors to paint your house, go visit a town like Salem, Massachusetts, and you’ll come away with plenty of ideas.

Everyone says to visit Salem, Massachusetts, during October when the town goes all out for Halloween.

I’m sure it is fantastic, but we loved the quieter energy of Salem in April without the crowds. The only thing not available for us to do in April was to take a boat ride because those don’t start up again for the tourist season until May.

I’m so happy we finally made the trip to Salem, Massachusetts.

It was fun to explore this historic town and, frankly, to see something new. We haven’t traveled much in the past two years and it felt good to see more of our world.

For more information on visiting Salem, Massachusetts, click here.

We stayed at the Salem Waterfront Hotel and Suites and can highly recommend it for its cleanliness, amenities, and location. That’s not sponsored – just had a good experience.

Is there somewhere on the East Coast of the U.S. that you think we’d enjoy experiencing? Let me know! You can send me an email here or reach out via Instagram or Facebook. If you leave a comment at the end of this post, just know that it won’t show up until I manually approve it.

Thanks for being here today. Here are some other posts in this series that you might enjoy!

In Praise of Mansard Roofs

In Praise of Oil Lamps

In Praise of Pretty Brooms