The William Murray House is a historic
First Period
First Period is an American architecture style in the time period between approximately 1626 and 1725, used by British colonists during the earliest English settlements in United States, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia and later in ...
house on the east side of
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...
. It is a two-story wood-frame house that consists of two distinct sections that have not always been treated as a single unit. Its construction history provides a window into 17th and 18th century building methods. The westernmost section was built c. 1688, and is three window bays wide and a single room in depth. The eastern section, also three bays wide and one room deep, was added in the late 17th or early 18th century. The western portion originally had an overhanging section of the second floor; this was altered in the early 18th century, when the roof was raised to a flatter pitch and the overhanging section was concealed by construction of a flush wall.
The two parts of the house were under separate ownership from 1759 until the mid-19th century. As a result, each section has its own staircase, one of them fashioned with Second Period (mid-18th century) turned woodwork. The house underwent restoration in 1780 by a skilled local woodworker, who documented many of its First Period features, and retained portions of original decorations.
[
The house was listed on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1990.
See also
*List of historic houses in Massachusetts
This is a list of historic houses in Massachusetts.
Western Massachusetts
Berkshire County
* Lenox
** The Mount ( Lenox) – author Edith Wharton's estate; 1902
** Ventfort Hall ( Lenox) – Jacobean style mansion, built 1893 – George & ...
*List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
This article lists the oldest buildings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Massachusetts and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate (indicated with a "") and b ...
*List of the oldest buildings in the United States
This article lists the oldest buildings in the United States and its territories. The list includes sites in current states and territories which were not part of the original Thirteen Colonies when the United States of America was founded in 1776 ...
*
*
References
Houses completed in 1688
Houses in Salem, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Salem, Massachusetts
1688 establishments in the Dominion of New England
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts
{{EssexCountyMA-NRHP-stub