One of the things that I like best about Salem is that I notice, or see, something new (really old) every day. It doesn’t matter how many times I have walked along a certain route, I’ll always spot something that I haven’t taken notice of before. I don’t have the same eye for the natural landscape, only the man-made one. Details emerge and stop me in my tracks. Yesterday’s late-afternoon run around Salem Common somehow turned into a more leisurely walk up Winter Street, a wide boulevard that has served as one of Salem’s major northerly access routes almost from its foundation: consequently it is lined with really lovely eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses. I was looking for late-summer gardens, but as this is a main entrance corridor, most of the gardens are tucked away out back–and suddenly all I could see was doors, really beautiful doors, each one unique. Now I actually lived on Winter Street for a brief stretch of time between houses, but I never really noticed these doors before, and suddenly they had all my attention. So here’s a sampling, beginning (after a little orientation) with the stunning entrance of one my favorite houses on the street, a brick Greek Revival.
Detail of Sidney Perley’s 1905 map of Salem, Boston Public Library, and doors of Winter Street houses; the louvred door and front of one of my favorite Winter Street houses, built in 1827 and pictured on the right of the circa 1910 postcard of Winter Street.
September 5th, 2013 at 9:10 am
Mt favorite is the second one, with the round top.
September 5th, 2013 at 9:18 am
Gosh, I love Salem!!!!
September 5th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Me too, Linda (at least most of the time). And I’m so glad you guys are back!
September 5th, 2013 at 10:59 am
Thanks, this makes me smile. I’ve looked at them twice so far… such fun,I like them all.
September 5th, 2013 at 12:57 pm
Beautiful!
September 5th, 2013 at 4:29 pm
very very cool, and they look so solid and so dependable,built to last! wonderful doors.. c
September 6th, 2013 at 10:44 am
Beautiful photos of one Salem’s great, but under-noticed, architectural areas. And love those old hand-colored postcards! R.
September 6th, 2013 at 11:00 am
I have always loved doorway photos. Thank you, love them all.