One of our nine 2017 Preservation Awards Winners was the Pickering House fence and Balustrade Restoration. The 1660 Pickering House has seen American history unfold at its front steps. Front steps that have no doubt been repaired and rebuilt many times in the ensuing 357 years – no structure survives that long without seeing careful and regular maintenance.

The Pickering Foundation is continuing this tradition of stewardship most recently with the reproduction and replacement of its unique acorn fence and ornamental columns along the perimeter of Broad St. Similarly an ornamental quatrefoil balustrade above the front portico was replaced in every detail. And in within the last decade the Gothic Revival fence was also reconstructed to reproduce the original fence exactly. The Pickering House was the home of one family for three and a half centuries and that family took an important role in the rehabilitation of this exterior wood work.

We celebrate this restoration with a Historic Salem Preservation Award, presented to The Pickering Foundation.