The Peirce-Nichols House is a historic house on Federal Street in Salem, Massachusetts.
Built in 1782 for local merchant Jerathmiel Peirce, the house is a Georgian-style, wood clapboard, three-story house with a low-hipped roof. The roof is encircled by a balustrade above the cornice and a second balustrade around a smaller roof deck.
The facade features fluted Doric columns that are capped by large triglyph blocks and an entryway with Roman Doric columns. A screened porch is located to the rear of the building. The house also features some original furnishings, such as a number of armchairs and settees built by Samuel McIntire.
Peirce purchased the land that the house sits on in 179 from the family of Benjamin Gerrish and hired notable architect Samuel McIntire to design the house. The property originally extended as far back as the North River, which is where the Peirce & Waite wharf and warehouse were located.
The entire west half of the house was designed in the Georgian style while the east side of the house was left completely unfinished with just open framing.
In 1801, Jerathmiel Peirce hired McIntire to finish the east side of the house, which includes the east parlor and chamber, in the Federal style in preparation for the marriage of Jerathmiel’s daughter Sally Pierce to George Nichols.
The Peirce-Nichols House and the Gardiner-Pingree House are both considered to be two of the finest examples of McIntire’s work.
In 1827, after a series of financial misfortunes, Jerathmiel Peirce was forced to sell much of his estate, including this house. The house was purchased at auction by a friend of the family, George Stuart Johonnot, for $5,240 as a favor to the family.
In George Johonnot’s will, which was enacted in 1836, he bequeathed the house to George Nichols with the stipulation that Johonnot’s widow, Martha, have life tenancy. After Martha died in 1840, George Nichols and his family returned to live in the house.
The house remained in the Nichols family until the Essex Institute purchased it by subscription in 1917. The Nichols daughters continued to live in the house until the last remaining daughter, Charlotte, died in 1935, and the funeral was held at the house on July 22, 1935. The house was later opened to visitors as a historic house museum in the late 1930s.
From 1924 to 1925, the fence in front of the property and the carriage house underwent restoration by architect William Gibbons Rantoul.
On November 24, 1968, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark. The house is a part of the Chestnut Street Historic District and was designated a contributing property on August 28, 1973.
Sources:
“Death Notices.” The Boston Herald, 15 Jul. 1935, p. 9.
“Peirce-Nichols House.” PEM.org, pem.org/historic-houses/peirce-nichols-house
“Historic Building Detail: SAL.1645 Pierce – Nichols House.” MACRIS.com, mhc-macris.net/details?mhcid=SAL.1645