Hawthorne Museum & Custom House

Remember The House of Seven Gables? Did you know the house was modeled after a real residence in Massachusetts? The house (above -- notice how the lighting affects the image) is now a Hawthorne museum, and it has its own website:

http://www.7gables.org/

One section of the site includes information (and a photo) of the Custom House -- or "Counting House" as it's called -- in Salem.

http://www.7gables.org/tour_countinghouse.shtml

The Counting House, circa 1830, is typical of the small buildings in which sea captains, or “supercargoes” like Salem-native, Nathaniel Bowditch, completed much of their business. This was a place to balance accounts, pay fees due, and figure profit before or after a sea journey. While this building dates slightly later than the time our merchant families were active in the Triangle and China Trades, it is a prime example of a counting house from Salem.