This Salem, Mass., beauty was built in 1750 for Capt. John Hodges. A West Indies trader, Hodges passed the house on to his son, Capt. Benjamin Hodges (1754-1806).

A distinguished sea captain, Benjamin was the first cousin to Elias Hasket Derby and commanded Derby’s most famous ships, the “Astrea” and the “Grand Turk.”

Between 1785 and 1792, he helped open up America’s sea trade with Russia, China and India.

He was the founder and first president of Salem’s East India Marine Society, now known as the Peabody-Essex Museum.

Frank W. Benson (1861-1951), the noted American impressionist painter, lived here in the early 1870s.

A full, detailed history of the house and its occupants can be found here.