(CS3.5) Resilient History: Assessments, Preservation, and Climate Adaptations at the House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts

The House of the Seven Gables is an invaluable piece of American history and an iconic landmark along the coast of Salem Harbor in Salem, Massachusetts. Home to the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, the Retire Becket House, the Hooper-Hathaway House, and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birthplace, the site holds not only precious examples of early colonial, post-medieval architecture, but a collection of important historical artifacts in the museum’s vast collection stored on site.

Recipients of a two-year grant administered by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the nationally renown historic site sought to identify actions it could take to adapt its campus and buildings and improve resilience in the face of climate impacts. The project is an exemplary reflection of a preservation action plan driven by an interdisciplinary team of experts through an iterative process of collaborative design, community outreach, and climate risk preparedness. The team identified "triggers" (or certain climate events and changes in site/ building conditions) that could be used to define when an action should be undertaken.

Actions range in scale and scope, including preservation work, documentation, emergency preparedness plans, site infrastructure improvements, moving of historic buildings and re-organization of the historic site. The outcome of this process was a climate adaptation and resiliency plan for the Gables that was immediately actionable for short-term improvements and lays the groundwork for medium- and long-term actions and decision points over the next several decades.