From the pale yellow exterior and white trim down to the reproduction French wallpaper, the Crowninshield-Bentley House in Salem has been painstakingly restored to the way it appeared in 1794.
And after nearly four years of work, it is once again open to the public.
Built in 1727 by fish merchant and ship captain John Crowninshield, the house is at 126 Essex St., on the corner of Essex Street and Route 1A, and is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum.
It was closed to the public in 2006 when restoration work began and was reopened this summer, revealing period decor, furnishings and paint that reflect the era during which the famed Rev. William Bentley was a boarder at the home.
"Bentley was one of the great intellectuals at the end of the 18th century," said Dean Lahikainen, the museum's Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of American Decorative Arts, who headed the restoration. "He wrote a famous diary that has been published. He chronicles the comings and going of all people in Salem."
The house was originally at 108 Essex St., where the Hawthorne Hotel parking lot is today. In 1958, the hotel gave the house to the Essex Institute, which later merged with the Peabody Museum, and it was moved to its current location.
The Crowninshield-Bentley House is an example of a classic Georgian-style wood-frame house with a symmetrical facade and fluted columns flanking the doorway. The home boasts its original staircase, turnings and cornice mouldings.
"There were lots of these houses around Salem, and this one is remarkably intact," said Lahikainen, who noted that at different times the building was used as a boarding house and a shop with a storefront.
"It has very intimate spaces and is kind of homey, and certainly, to the museum, it's a great teaching house on how New England architecture evolved," he said.
To restore the home to its 1794 appearance, all of the rooms have been repainted to their original color based on scientific paint analysis. Many walls feature a soft, almost mint green paint. The rooms have been completely refurbished with period furniture and decor, using many items from the museum's collection.
"All of the furniture in the room is from Salem and very accurately dated," Lahikainen said, as he gestured around a parlor with shield-back chairs with Samuel McIntire carvings, a Samuel Mulliken grandfather clock in the corner and other furnishings.
"We picked a specific time period of 1794 to 1810, which was the most interesting period in the house's history," he said.
'Telling multiple stories'
When John Crowninshield died in 1761, his widow and eldest son inherited his house, and then divided it. His son Benjamin built an addition on his half, the western half, to accommodate his wife and children and acquired some finer furnishings and decorations, some from his travels as merchant. Meanwhile, Crowninshield's widow, Hannah, on the eastern half, rented rooms to boarders to generate income, Lahikainen said.
The house's footprint helps tell that story.
"There are a lot of doors, staircases and passageways created so they could maintain privacy as they traveled into their side of the home," Lahikainen said. "So we're telling multiple stories of people in the house at that time period."
From 1791 through 1819, Crowninshield's widow hosted the Rev. William Bentley.
Bentley, a Unitarian minister, was the pastor of East Church, which used to stand on Essex Street. He was a noted diarist, linguist and antiquarian who corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.
Bentley attended Harvard College at age 14, learned 22 languages and owned the second-largest private library in America at the time, with more than 4,000 books.
"Jefferson sent him Arabic State Department documents to translate," Lahikainen said.
Lahikainen said Bentley was probably America's first antiques collector. He collected coins, paintings and prints. He kept birds and enjoyed natural history, keeping bottles and jars with snakes, frogs and other specimens.
He was also a broad thinker.
"He was instrumental in instituting the first celebration of Catholic Mass, which was held here in Salem ... because he was a broad thinker," Lahikainen said.
"His diaries are terrific," he said, "and in addition to that, he kept double sets of journals."
The house was reopened to the public as museum staff continue to restore other rooms. The goal of the restoration is to eventually include Bentley's library/study and bedroom.
"We thought it was important to get it online and open to the public as quickly as possible," Lahikainen said. "The other rooms we'll do as we have time and resources."
The Crowninshields went on to become one of the wealthiest local families after the famous Derby family, Lahikainen said.
Their house is now designated on the National Register of Historic Places.
Staff writer Amanda McGregor can be reached at amcgregor@salemnews.com.
Want to tour?
The Crowninshield-Bentley House is featured in two of the Peabody Essex Museum's tours. "Setting Salem's Table: Three Centuries of Cooking and Dining" runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. "From Shelter to Showpiece: Three Centuries of Salem" runs daily at 12:30 p.m. and Wednesdays and Fridays at 2 p.m.; house tours are included with general admission. For more information, visit pem.org/visit/tours or call 866-745-1876.
Heritage Days open house
During Salem's annual Heritage Days, free public tours of the Crowninshield-Bentley House will be offered Saturday, Aug. 14, every hour on the hour from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Period children's games will be offered in the yard on a drop-in basis from 1 to 3 p.m.
