Pictured here is the famous House of Seven Gables. This home was made legendary by American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne. I visited in the midst of winter which meant that I practically had the grounds to myself. I suspect it would be hard to get a scene so empty of people during the summer. The winter also gave me a very atmospheric scene with all the bare trees reaching to the skies around the hose.

The history of the House of Seven Gables turns out to be very interesting and you learn quite a mixed bag. It looked nothing like this in Hawthorne’s time. By his era, it had been completely remodeled and changed over the years. He wrote about it based on memories of a cousin who lived there.

Around a 100 years ago, the house was nearly demolished but saved by a lady who used it as a museum to raise money for a charity. She had the house remodeled into a romanticized (i.e. not entirely accurate) version of its colonial appearance.

Accurate or not, it's an amazing piece of history and literature and I hope this moody black and white print does it justice!