The drawing-room, also finished in mahogany, is perhaps the most elegant room in the house, with its fireplace of supporting pilasters rich in elaborate hand-carving. There is a dignity and charm that surrounds every room in this house, telling of the days when honest labor gave thorough workmanship. All through this mansion the woodwork is particularly impressive in its richness and careful finish of hand-carving. The dining-room, a large room in the rear of the house, is in close harmony with the other apartments, the most notable feature here being the strap hinges of wrought brass. These show most unusual ornamentations, which differ from those on the entrance floor. Here the trim is painted white and gives a most effective background to the brass hinge. On every door is a ponderous brass lock of elaborate design. Few houses, even among the most famous found in this vicinity, can boast of more wonderful furniture and such a wealth of old-time wall-paper. [Illustration: PLATE XX.--Chambers in "The Lindens."] No two chambers are alike. Many of the fireplaces are particularly fine, as McIntire has taken special pains to give good samples of his work. The fireplace motive all through the house seemingly runs to baskets of flowers. In the days of commercial prosperity, the Peabody family was among the most prominent of the Salem merchants. On the walls of "The Lindens" are many paintings of ships that were at one time in the service of the Peabodys. The house to-day is owned by the son of the late Francis Peabody, who has kept it in perfect preservation and intact as in his father's day. Little wonder that romance clings about the place, leading one to tread reverently through the different rooms, where, during the colonial period, both American and English history were made. CHAPTER V THE ROGERS HOUSE There was built in Peabody, Massachusetts, in the early part of the nineteenth century, one of the most magnificent colonial homes of the period. It still stands, a large, pretentious, two-storied house, known as "Oak Hill" and the summer residence of Mrs. Jacob C. Rogers. The house itself is in the center of well laid out grounds, being placed far back from the road and showing at the front a wide stretch of lawn interspersed with trees, one of which, a purple beech, is among the tallest and largest in New England. [Illustration: PLATE XXI.--The Rogers House, Peabody, Mass.]