I toured the Narbonne House as part of an organized tour led by a park ranger from the Salem Maritime National Historic Site (you can find tour info on their website). It was a very interesting and informative tour, filled with history about the house and its occupants. Ive walked by it several times, and it was nice to be able to actually go inside and see the house. Its worth the time to take the free (yes, FREE!) ranger-led tour, which also visits the Derby House.

Narbonne House. c. 1675. in the Historic Maritime DistrictThis tallest section of the structure is the initial home, & retains the original roof & chimney. One of the unique facts making this building so special is its history of nearly 300 years of continued occupation, 200 years of which are members of one family. The house is named for Sarah Narbonne. Owned by 3 other families previously, the house was actually built for a butcher named Thomas Ives. Sarah Narbonne was born in the house, & lived there her entire life, nearly a century. She was the granddaughter of John Andrews, who had purchased the property in 1780. Sarah lived in the home with her daughter, Mary. They were both seamstresses, & they also owned a cent shop in the northeast portion of the home. After Marys death in 1905, the home was owned by Frank Hales family, Marys cousins, & eventually purchased by the National Park Service. Unlike the magnificent houses that grace Chestnut Street, the Narbonne house represents people of modest means. Residents of homes like these provided the backbone of Salem’s economy before, during & after her maritime shipping supremacy.Narbonne House is a contributing property to the Salem Maritime National Historic site, the first National Historic Site established in the United States.

Beautiful place to walk around and take in.Beautiful gardens.

Very interesting little cation to visit. Was here with the Travel Channel a few years back so it was nice to visit it without a camera crew. Staff was wonderful and answered questions along with showing us additional items normally not on display along with stories not normal shared with the general public

We werent expecting to see the house but were so glad we did. Make sure you get the tour from the NPS employees. Its a neat story.