ABSTRACT
In 1795, Elias Hasket Derby and Elizabeth Crowninshield Derby started construction of a showplace mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, to display to the whole of the community their family’s social and financial status. The house was appropriately situated to overlook the sea, the source of their decidedly impressive fortune. The Derbys hired leading American architect Charles Bulfinch to plan the building, but finally built a house whose appearance owed more to the skill of a well-renowned local builder, Samuel McIntire. While Elias Hasket Derby’s business acumen was responsible for the financial standing which allowed the couple to have this home built, his wife Elizabeth Crowninshield Derby played a leading role in the design and decoration of the house. 2 The lavish home impressed a Maryland visitor who sketched the house in 1799. He noted: ‘The principle merchant here, Mr. Derby, has just built a most superb house, more like a palace than the dwelling of an American merchant.’ 3 The Derbys’ domestic space 256demonstrated both their financial and personal success to the community of which they were such a vital part. 4
