Salem - House of Seven Gables Historic Site

House of Seven Gables is a collection of colonial homes including one of the oldest surviving 17th-century wooden mansions in New England, built in 1668. Nathaniel Hawthorne used the House of Seven Gables as the setting for his famous novel of the same name. On one of the regularly scheduled tours, guides lead visitors up the building's curving, secret staircases and recount the history of its former occupants. There are period artifacts, photos, paintings and a research library with centuries old texts.

The site also includes Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1804 birthplace, which has been restored to its 1808 appearance, and four other houses listed on the National Register of Historic Places.