Gridley James Fox Bryant designed the John Tucker Daland House at 132 Essex Street, the Italianate brick house in front of you. This imposing Italianate house was designed by architect Gridley James Fox Bryant and built in 1851–1852. It is a three-story brick house originally built for the prosperous merchant John Tucker Daland; the Dalands lived here until 1885, when the Essex Institute acquired the building.
Built to house the Salem Athenaeum, a private library, the building later was remodeled as offices by architect William Devereux Dennis (1847–1913) and in 1907 was connected to the adjacent Plummer Hall, the former home of the Athenaeum. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum, the house was among the last detached brick houses to be built in Salem. Look up to note the rusticated corner quoins and foundation, the fine cornices, the mix of arched and flat-entablatured windows, and the imposing front porch supported by Corinthian columns and topped with a Palladian window.
Remember that it once featured roof and porch balustrades and panelled brick chimneys. Notice the adjacent Plummer Hall and the surrounding Essex Institute Historic District.