Historic Houses
Andrew-Safford House
13 Washington Square
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The massive vertical facade and four large columns rising from the ground to the third story on the south side make the Andrew-Safford House (1819) one of the most impressive houses in Salem.
Designed in the Federal style by an unknown architect, the extravagant mansion was built by John Andrew, a Salem merchant specializing in the fur trade with Russia. But within 10 years of its construction, John Andrew was bankrupt and lost ownership of it. The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
The first thing you might notice is the piazza on the west side of the house. It features four colossal scale doric columns carved from solid timbers.
One of the reasons we know quite a lot about the construction of this house is the construction was documented by diarist Reverend Bentley, who was living just a few hundred yards away and watched the great columns being hoisted into place.
Photo by Bob Packert/PEM.
The interior woodwork is attributed to Joseph True, a master carpenter who had apprenticed to Samuel McIntire. A three story staircase leads to all floors of the house. Delightful federal details include interior glazed fan lights over double door entryways. John Andrew went to extraordinary expense to build this house and the solid mahogany doors throughout still retain their original mercury glass knobs.
The opulent home is a reflection of very sudden and extreme gentrification of the neighborhood in the golden years of Salem’s economic boom. But the 1820s in Salem were extremely turbulent from an economic standpoint and many merchants who built houses similar to this one found themselves destitute. The house passed into the Safford family in the 1860s and came to PEM through its parent institution, the Essex Institute, who acquired it in 1947 as the residence for the Executive Director. Today the mansion is used for rentals, internal meetings and private functions.
Photos by Dinah Cardin/PEM.
Photos by Dinah Cardin/PEM.
The adjoining three-bay elegant brick carriage house once sheltered horses and early automobiles. It is now home to Goodnight Fatty, a business that serves up cookies, milk and ice cream on weekend evenings.
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