Bewitching architecture Ah, Hocus Pocus. Whether it?s the wandering eye of Winifred Sanderson?s spellbook or when the Sanderson sisters break out into improbable song, it?s safe to say that everybody has a favorite bit of the 1993 cult-hit film.
For a historic-home lover, the film?s at its most enchanting when the camera lingers in an old house?and many of the ones used for filming are real and actually on location in Salem, Massachusetts. They?re also all within 2 miles of each other. In fact, Google says you can walk to all of them in less than 30 minutes.
Thackery Binx?s House

A post shared by Louisa Hennessy (@louisahennessy) on Oct 29, 2017 at 5:50am PDT

The movie starts off in the year 1693, with Thackery Binx waking up to discover that his sister, Emily, has been lured out of bed by Sarah Sanderson. We briefly get a glimpse of his simple wooden cottage before we tumble with him through the forest (really, if Emily and Sarah can make their way to the Sanderson household without falling down a steep hill, there must be a cleared path).
The cottage is a typical example of early English Colonial architecture, common in the northeast U.S. in the 17th century. The houses are framed in timber and have steep roofs and diamond-pane casement windows that swing open. The cottages featured in the movie are quite small?one or two rooms at most?and they would have also had large walk-in fireplaces for heat.
Thackery?s cottage is located in Pioneer Village, a living ...