Christmas In Salem – Boughs And Blossoms – 9 Cambridge St – Built for David Coggin (Salem, MA)

Date Of Visit: December 6, 2025

Location: 9 Cambridge 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 house at 9 Cambridge St, aka the David Coggin home, has some interesting decor, artifacts and is cat friendly!

Like most of the homes in this neighborhood, this late 19th century, this late 19th century house was built on the site of an earlier building that was part of a larger parcel of land belonging to Jonathan Neal in the 1660s. The earlier dwelling remained in the family until the 1880s when tax records describe it as vacant and about to be demolished. Jonathan Neal’s name sound familiar to those of you who have been reading my posts. This home appears to have possibly been part of the parcel of land 10 Broad St currently stands.

Late in 1889 David Coggin, a renowned ophthalmic surgeon at Salem Hospital, had the current house constructed as a two and a half story residence with a gambrel rook in the Dutch Colonial Revival/Shingle Style. Coggin had another on nearby Chestnut St. But, he never resided there, selling the house soon after its completion to Nathaniel Osgood, a leather dealer, and his wife Eliza. Osgood was the son of the Salem portrait painter, Charles Osgood, whose well-known portrait of Nathaniel Hawthorne now resides in the Peabody Essex Museum. By 1900 the Osgoods had purchased a house on Chestnut St and rented out the house at 9 Cambridge St to a series of short-term renters, among them Charles C. Buffum, famed as the old “foxhunter” claiming to have killed more foxes throughout New England than anyone else. Buffum lives there from 192 until his death in 1915.

Like many homes on this tour, this home was deceiving in both size and style. While it may seem “cozy” and “quaint”, neither of which are inherently bad things, the home is bigger (over 1,900 square feet) than it may appear to be from the exterior.

The home had a distinctive charm and holiday appeal.

I adored the kitchen decor!

I thought this was very cool. When the home owners had work done on their home and grounds, the workers found some interesting materials. These pieces of dinnerware and other debris were found when the owners did remodeling and landscaping.

Something I’ve noticed in a few of the houses I toured was doors, holes and other entryways specially made for pets. This home not only had a walkway above the human furniture, it also had a hole for the cat to walk through. They have quite the life!

I liked how this tour guide got into the holiday spirit with his headwear!

This lighting fixture was very pretty! I would have loved to see what it looks like when it is lighted! Maybe I’ll see that next time I tour the home!

I always try to find something unique or different. Not necessarily anything different from the other homes. But, something that I haven’t posted about before. In this case it’s crown molding, or cornice.

Fun fact: While there may be some minor differences, wainscotting and crown molding are basically the same thing. The only big difference is location. The crown molding is located near the ceiling as shown above. Wainscotting is located low on the wall from the baseboard up to a chair rail.

This was an interesting Christmas tree. At least it’s easy to set up and take down!

The decorations continued into the porch and yard.

I hope you’ve been enjoying these tours! Three more left!