The Peirce-Nichols House is a historic home located at 80 Federal Street, built in 1782, and residing in the Chestnut Street District

Chestnut Street District

Chestnut Street District is a historic district bounded roughly by Broad, Flint, Federal, and Summer Streets in Salem, Massachusetts. The Chestnut Street District is also known at the Samuel McIntyre Historic District, created in 1981 and containing 407 buildings, it is the city's largest district...

, Salem

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and owned by the Peabody Essex Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

The Peabody Essex Museum , originally the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, in Salem, Massachusetts is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States, and holds one of the major collections of Asian art in the US; its total holdings include about 1.3 million pieces, as...

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Samuel McIntire

Samuel McIntire

Samuel McIntyre was an American architect and craftsman, Chestnut Street District, a legacy to one of the earliest architects in the United States, Samuel McIntyre is a primary example of Federal style architecture....

 designed the Peirce-Nichols House (80 Federal Street), circa 1782, in a transitional late-Georgian

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

/early Federal style for Jerathmiel Peirce, co-owner of the merchant ship

Merchant vessel

A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...

 Friendship. McIntire remodeled portions of the house in the Federal style twenty years later. To the rear of the house are stable

Stable

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...

s and, behind them, visible through an opening in the stable wall, a terraced lawn

Terrace (gardening)

In gardening, a terrace is an element where a raised flat paved or gravelled section overlooks a prospect. A raised terrace keeps a house dry and provides a transition between the hard materials of the architecture and softer ones of the garden.-History:...

 extends back to a small arbor. Originally the property swept down to the North River, where Captain Peirce could dock his ship at the foot of his own property. The house is a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

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