A Little Magic at Ropes Mansion in Salem

The Rope’s Mansion at 318 Essex Street is a 1727 home. Lisa and I got in line this spring for the first public tour since a fire that had started in the attic during a renovation back in 2009. It’s located in the Chestnut Street District in Salem, Massachusetts. It is now operated by the Peabody Essex Museum and open to the public.

Maybe this home looks familiar to you. If you are a fan of the movie, Hocus Pocus, you will know this was the home of the heroine, Allison.

Haunted Ropes Mansion in Salem Massachusetts

The Ropes Mansion was occupied up until 1907 when the home was given to the Trustees of the Ropes Memorial for public benefit. During the 19th century the house had gone through many renovations and the building had even been moved back from the sidewalk to where it now stands.

Ropes Mansion formal dining room — Formal dining room

Ropes Mansion double sided fireplace — Ropes Mansion double fireplace

There is no cost for the tour so this is a family-friendly self-guided tour. You start in the foyer and can proceed through the downstairs rooms. The dining room is set with the actual china as it would have been set for Christmas dinner 18??. The story tells how at that time Christmas dinner was nothing like it has become over the next hundred years.

Across the hall is a sitting room with a double fireplace and either doorway on the side of the fireplace brings you into another small sitting room with a matching fireplace on the other side. Off this room is the “China” room. Many different patterns of the family’s dinnerware are shown in this room.

Ropes Mansion China service storage — Ropes Mansion cabinets of china

Ropes Mansion pantry — Ropes Mansion Pantry

Exiting this room brings you to the casual family dining room and the butler’s pantry and kitchen. The table is set with folded napkins and the plates have sayings on them.

In the back of the house is the kitchen and kitchen pantry displaying period kitchen tools that were the staple tools of the trade.

Ropes Mansion upstairs indoor plumbing — Ropes Mansion hot water and plumbing

Back in the hallway you take the servant stairs to the second floor and explore the bedrooms with displays of the beds and furniture, along with cases that show jewelry and daily used items by the family.

Ropes Mansion upstairs bedroom — Ropes Mansion bedroom upstairs

This house was very modern for the times because the bathroom was outfitted with hot and cold running water.

The last area to explore, and probably the most favorite for children, is the flower gardens that cover the backyard of the property. Perennials like peonies and rose bushes adorn the pathways of this formal garden. Late fall butterflies float from bloom to bloom.

If you listen you can hear the tinkle of a small water feature that spills into a lily pond, a great place for a quiet moment if you are ever in Salem.