House Keeping

Luckily, the museum has a talented team of preservationists and craftspeople dedicated to the cause. Below are a selection of projects that are underway on PEM’s campus:

Ropes Mansion (318 Essex Street)
Exterior repairs on the east side of the building will continue through winter, just in time for the self-guided tours to resume come spring.

Cotting-Smith Assembly House (138 Federal Street)
The museum will continue its work designing and replacing a missing balustrade that was once installed above the house’s portico but was removed in the early 20th century. How do we know about it? This detail was almost lost to history, but appears in two historic photographs in PEM’s collection.

Peirce-Nichols House (80 Federal Street)
Scaffolding and roofing slate are now onsite to kick off the house’s roof project this winter. The molds for the new balustrades are now complete and headed to a separate facility for the casting process. 

Crowninshield-Bentley House (126 Essex Street)
Estimates are now complete for a new roof replacement coming in 2026.

Gardner-Pingree House (128 Essex Street)
Varnish touchups to the doors are currently underway this winter, and all of the ceilings in the home have now been repaired and repainted. 

John Ward House (9 Brown Street)
A casement window restoration project was completed and all four of the remaining restored windows have  been installed.

Andrew-Safford House (13 Washington Square)
By spring 2026, wooden elements on the front facade of the house will be repainted.

Yin Yu Tang (161 Essex Street)
In 2025, Yin Yu Tang will be undergoing work to preserve its roof tiles and masonry walls. During your visit, scaffolding may be present and work may be actively underway. Please note that the house may be intermittently closed to enable this important preservation work. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

ABOVE IMAGE: Crowninshield-Bentley House, West Parlor. Peabody Essex Museum. Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM.