Christmas In Salem – Boughs & Blooms – Joshua Ward House (Salem, MA)

Date Of Visit: December 6, 2025

Location: John Ward House, 148 Washington St, Salem, MA (about 30 minutes northeast of Boston, MA)

Universally Accessible: No

Cost: $40 per ticket ($50 if you purchase day of tour tickets)

Parking: There are several parking garages in Salem, as well as metered on street parking.

Summary: The Joshua Ward House, rumored to be haunted, is said to be Salem’s oldest Federal style brick building. It was the first home on the Christmas In Salem’s Boughs & Blooms historic homes tour.

Salem’s not just a Halloween destination anymore and the throng of crowds at the Christmas In Salem historic homes tour, titled “Boughs & Blossoms, is proof of this. The event, which included tours of 12 historic homes, and a bonus tour of a tiny home, attracted thousands of visitors to the Witch City. And it seems to be a bigger event each year.

While you can visit the homes in any order you choose to, a list is provided of the homes on the tour and the Joshua Ward House was the first house on this list. I found most of the information for these blog posts in the guide book given to each person on the tour. But, all of the info about the homes aren’t just in the guide books. The tour guides also provided additional information not included in the guidebook which I am including in these posts.

Like many of the countless people who walk past this grand home, I always wondered what it looked like inside. So, it was very exciting to finally see the interior of this mysterious building.

Joshua Ward, a merchant and privateer, built the house shortly after the Revolutionary War. It is said to be the oldest Federal high style brick house in Salem. The house was built adjacent to Ward’s business activities by the waterfront and would have extensive views down to the harbor. It was built with the assistance of famed Salem architect and wood carver Samuel McIntyre. In fact, you will see Samuel’s handywork or influence in many of the homes in the tour.

For all of the gearheads out there, I used my Canon 5D Mark IV DSLR with a 24 mm while photographing this and all of the houses. Except, I did use my 90D Canon with a 18 to 400 mm lens for the photo of the exterior of the house so I could fit the entire exterior of the house in the frame. I also had to use a 1.4 aperture for most of the photos of the interior because of the low light environment.

The entrance to the home was decorated tastefully.

I thought this light was pretty unique.

While many inns, homes and other historical dwellings claim “George Washington slept here”, he really did sleep in the Joshua Ward home. When Washington visited Salem in 1789, diarist William Bentley recorded that Washington requested to sleep in the Joshua Ward house. He is said to have slept in the second level, southeast front bed chamber. When the home was turned into a hotel in the 19th century, it was known as the Washington Tavern in recognition of Washington’s visit. This bust was made in George’s honor.

Ok, now to address the elephant, or ghost, in the room. Since this is Salem, of course there is a connection to ghosts. The house has been widely said to be haunted. The house is said to be haunted because the home was built on the land where where High Sherriff George Corwin had his house. George Corwin was the person who issued the arrest warrants for the people accused in the Salem Witch trials. He is also the person who is said to have placed the stones on Giles Corey’s body to force his confession of being a witch. Giles never confessed. Instead, he’s alleged to have cursed Corwin and the city of Salem. His and the victims of the trials spirits are said to reside in the home. For whatever it’s worth, the tour guide at the house chuckled and told me he has never seen or heard any paranormal activity (although he did tell me he’s seen UFO’s or UAP).

The home has been refurbished and turned into a boutique hotel. It is also a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The work of art above the fireplace is called See No Evil.

The hotel has some luxurious accommodations. As long as you don’t mind sharing them with some uninvited guests!