Architect transforms Salem house with a mystery of a history. See inside.

Across the street and one house in from Salem Common stands a lovely Adam-style exemplar on the market for $1,025,000. The elegant, intentionally austere house style was popular in New England between 1780 and 1820, when the shipping magnates of Salem were making fortunes in the China trade. This building’s exterior displays a number of Classical-style hallmarks, including dentil molding, pilasters with triglyph ornamentation, quoins, six-over-six windows with slender muntins, and, over a door, a graceful semicircular fanlight. Standing sideways to the brick sidewalk and fronted by a handsome picket fence, the home has the location, orientation, and look that would bring joy to a student of historic architecture, someone who might think this a rare and wonderful survivor.

But nothing about this 3,584-square-foot house is as it seems.

“The only thing we know for sure is that it was moved to this spot sometime around 1906,’’ said homeowner Robert Mitnik. An architect, he bought the house in 2011 with his wife, Mandy, a now-retired compliance director at Beverly Hospital.

“We know about the circa-1906 house move because records indicate that, before then, this was an empty lot,’’ Robert said, “but we know the house was built before that; its original elements indicate much earlier construction.’’

An early 20th-century move was the least of the structure’s problems. Renovations in the 1970s introduced dropped ceilings and encased the exterior in aluminum siding. All the original windows gave way to cheaply made aluminum replacements. Even the beautiful fanlight was obscured under a canopy. When the Mitniks bought it, the house had spent 20 years serving as a residence for a North Shore nonprofit that provides jobs and services for people with disabilities. “All sorts of spaces, including the front parlor, served as bedrooms,’’ Robert said.

But for Robert, the house was a time capsule with key clues about its history.

“I imagined that I was an early 19th-century architect with a wealthy client,’’ he explained. “First, I studied the house. Then, basically, I designed it. We are not in the Salem Commons Historic District, which afforded me more leeway than I would have had otherwise.’’

He points to original elements, including the fanlight and mortise-and-tenon beams with wooden pegs as age indicators.

“And, look at this!’’ he said as he carried a piece of painted wood into the front hall. “This is a piece of the original wainscot, made from a pine board 23 inches wide. I believe it was made from old-growth wood.

“The house was built circa 1800, and it was probably moved here from maybe just one block away. I have found seven or eight other houses just like this in the neighborhood. . . . The fanlight, which we know is original, is very familiar. The back of the house, which was thought to be an early addition, is most likely another house, also moved here and connected to the front. The front part is very symmetrical and does not align with the rear.’’

Salem is known for grand Classical manses, but Robert explains that this house was much more humble when it was new. The quoins, dentil molding, and pilasters he applied to the exterior make it much fancier. For guidance, he studied high-style Classical houses in Salem, as well as historic pattern books that show the details of this type of architecture.

He restored the old side entry, which leads into a small foyer and stair hall lined with the original wainscot. While new stair treads were called for, the original railing survived, as did the scroll skirting. The millwork throughout the house, including the wainscot, is painted white, but Robert chose orange for the railing, a surprise he says accentuates the carved curves more than painting it black would have. “I like to use a lot of color,’’ he said. (The railing also echoes the assertive orange and gold wallpaper in the hall.)

To one side, a door leads into the living room/parlor. Painted a saturated shade of blue, it has been restored as a living room with an electric fireplace, one with a mantel that has a mystery of a history. When the Mitniks moved here, it was simply affixed to the wall — without a firebox. (All four fireplace mantels in the home were like this, which leads Robert to believe the home was moved without the chimneys.) Flanking the fireplace are glass-fronted cabinets in which Mandy displays her collection of miniature chairs.

Opposite the living room, a door leads from the entry into the new kitchen. Robert placed it at the center of the house, between the traditional living room and the rear section. To unify the front and back and to introduce more natural light, he designed a brick-and-stone side patio, the focus of French doors in the kitchen and library. The library, which is open to the floor above, occupies the rear section, along with the dining room, a small bedroom, and bath. Robert also built a new door facing the street at the rear of the house, improving the flow and offering a better route to the parking area than the narrow alley.

There is one bedroom on the first floor. Four bedrooms occupy the second; a sixth is in the attic. The basement is Robert’s “man cave.’’ It includes his workshop, a bar, a game room with a pool table, and large framed photographs dating to the years when he and his wife traveled via their small airplane. The bar is built from old floorboards; the ceiling is lined with white bead board, which also climbs the wall to bar height.

The kitchen has the light, open space, ample cabinets, and appliances today’s homeowner wants. Like the living room, it boasts the original ceiling beams. In the living room, however, those beams are set into a deep cove furnished with crown molding.

“We were taking down the newer ceiling when the plaster came down, showing the beams,’’ Robert said. “In the living room, we built the tray so that the sides would accommodate new heating and air-conditioning systems. I like the contrast of the rough beams within a finished frame.’’

He and his wife did most of the construction work, all while living here. Robert built parts in the basement workshop.

He tried to salvage what he could.

An especially tender subject for historic preservationists is fenestration. Critics argue that replacement windows betray historic architecture with improperly scaled and manufactured glass, muntins, casings, and materials. True divided lights, in which each glass pane is enclosed within muntins or grilles, were the standard in 1800, but are too pricey for many homeowners today.

That said, Robert often walked a fine line between what is historically correct and what is affordable and energy-efficient. He put in Thermopane windows, but saved the original interior casings. He chose muntins and sashes of the proper size for the time period. The siding couldn’t be saved, so he opted for HardiePlank in the color he found when he pulled off the aluminum siding.

The work here is done, and the Mitniks are moving to Vermont, where they are remodeling their new home — a Colonial Revival built in the 1920s.

They said they were attracted to the Salem house because it has beautiful views of the common, an 8-acre park that has served the city since the 17th century, and is only a short walk to the Essex Street Pedestrian Mall and the Peabody Essex Museum.

“We walk everywhere. We are two blocks from the water and just around the corner from Salem’s downtown. And we have a front-row seat for events at the bandstand in the center of the common,’’ Robert said.

Their realtor, William Raye of William Raveis, said that they have created a true showplace in Salem, “a perfect combination of historic charm and modern living.’’

Raye will host open houses on Saturday, July 7, and Sunday, July 8, from 11:30 to 1 p.m.

See more photos of the property:

Regina Cole writes about architecture and design. Send comments to [email protected]. Subscribe to our free real estate newsletter — our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design — at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @globehomes.

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