Hall from Robert Hooper House, Danvers, Massachusetts

This room was the most important public and social space of a house built circa 1754 for Robert "King" Hooper (1709-1790), who amassed a considerable fortune by exporting dried cod fish to Europe. Although his main residence was a mansion in the fishing port of Marblehead, Massachusetts, the house containing the Nelson-Atkins' room was located about seven miles outside Danvers in eastern Massachusetts, and served as Hooper's country seat. By building an imposing country house, Hooper formally established himself as a gentleman landowner and proclaimed his wealth and the extent of his sphere of influence beyond the town's limits.

During the Revolutionary War, Hooper, a British Loyalist, permitted the British commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General Gage, to use the house as his headquarters before the historic Battles of Lexington and Concord in April of 1775. When official business was not being conducted, it was said that the Hall was used to entertain gentry favorable to the royal cause. Despite Hooper's early commercial success, he died bankrupt due to wartime shipping boycotts and his allegiance to Britain. Thus, the Hall is an enduring symbol of pivotal events in the Colonies' quest for independence.

With a generous grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Museum has been able to return the room to its original dimensions and its original light blue paint color.