Portsmouth NH Colonial

Samuel Larkin House // c.1804

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Before wealthy Portsmouth merchant and auctioneer, Samuel Larkin (1773-1849), built his brick Federal style mansion (last post), he lived in this more traditional Federal style house next door at 160 Middle Street. The three-story mansion was occupied by Samuel Larkin, his wife, Ann, and seven of their children who lived to adulthood, before the War of 1812, when he made his fortune auctioning goods stolen from British vessels by Portsmouth privateers. When he built his home next door, he retained ownership of this home, and rented it out to boarders until financial hardship in the late 1820s required that he sell his mansion and move back here to live out his retirement. The facade of the Samuel Larkin House is symmetrical with a central entrance door with fanlight and pilasters under a flat-roof portico supported by fluted columns with scrolled capitals.

Jones-Sinclair House // 1865

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One of the finest Victorian-era residences in Portsmouth, the Jones-Sinclair House at 241 Middle Street, is a stately and oversized Second Empire style mansion built in the location of an even more significant home. Originally on this site, at the convergence of two busy streets, Thomas Haven, a wealthy merchant and half-brother to William Haven who lived across the street, built an impressive brick, Federal style mansion here in around 1818. Admiral George Washington Storer, Commander in Chief of the Brazil squadron of the U.S. Navy, later purchased the Federal style octagonal house. Mary Washington Storer, inherited the house after her father’s death in 1864, and she with her husband, Albert L. Jones, demolished the old octagonal-shaped house around 1865-1867, replacing it with this mansard-villa style mansion. By about 1890, Charles A. Sinclair and his wife, Emma, is said to have received the house as a gift from her uncle, the famous Portsmouth industrialist and politician, Frank Jones. 

William Haven House // c.1807

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William Haven (1770-1856) was the youngest son of Reverend Samuel Haven (1727-1806), the Pastor of South Church, and Mehitable Appleton Haven, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Appleton. William was a merchant that traveled extensively with his brothers, who employed him as their accountant, later working as a cashier of the New Hampshire Bank in Portsmouth, and later an accountant for the Portsmouth Savings Bank. William married Sophia Henderson in 1807, and soon-after, had this large residence on Middle Street built for his new family. By the 1870s, the residence was owned by William H. Hackett, who likely modernized the home with the Italianate style stair-hall window on the second floor, and portico and entry. 

Walker House // c.1857

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The Walker House at 171 Middle Street in Portsmouth is a wood-frame Italianate-style residence that was greatly modernized at the turn of the 20th century into the Colonial Revival style, showcasing how differing styles can actually blend together fairly harmoniously. The house was built around 1857 for Nathaniel Kennard Walker (1807-1880), a ship owner who operated a hat shop in town. After his death in 1880, Nathaniel’s youngest son, Arthur Willard Walker (1855-1906), inherited the home, and some time after his marriage in 1886, modernized the family home in the then fashionable Colonial Revival style, popular in many New England towns as a callback to historical designs. Original details of the Italianate style that remain include: the overhanging bracketed eaves, wide cornice, centered gable at the roof, and the window trim. Colonial Revival additions to the Walker House include: the entrance with leaded glass fanlight transom and sidelights, entry portico, two-story fluted pilasters at the facade, and Palladian window at the second floor stairhall.

Shillaber House // c.1768

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The Shillaber House on Washington Street in Portsmouth, is one of the most photogenic residences in the charming port city. The Georgian-style residence was likely built in the late-1760s, after Joseph Shillaber (1725-1791), a potter, purchased land here in 1766. The residence is of a typical form for 1760s Portsmouth, with a gambrel roof with pedimented dormers and a slightly off-center entry with Georgian style pilasters and pediment. In the later half of the 19th century, the house was “Victorianized” with a bracketed door hood and bay windows at the facade, but the house would be restored by later owners to a version close to its original conditions. The exposed clapboard siding adds to the home’s unique charm.

Benjamin Holmes Jr. House // c.1795

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The Benjamin Holmes Jr. House at 395 Pleasant Street in Portsmouth, is a two-story, five-bay, residence with symmetrical facade with a central pedimented entry. In 1795, Benjamin Holmes (1768-1837) married Esther Lewis, and the couple moved into this residence. The late-Georgian house follows the typical form and finishes of many other coastal New England residences of the late 18th century and is in a great state of preservation.

Capt. Charles Blunt House // c.1795

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Master mariner Charles E. Blunt Sr. (1768-1823) built this large Federal period home on Pleasant Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire near the turn of the 19th century for his bride, Abigail Laighton, and their new family. Charles Blunt was a wealthy sea captain who would be out at sea for months at a time, trading in the west indies. On a voyage near Havana Cuba in March, 1823, his vessel was boarded in the night by two piratical boats, with six men each, and Captain Charles Blunt was brutally murdered and thrown overboard. The ship’s cook was stabbed, and fed to the hogs on the brig, with the remainder of the crew maltreated and the goods plundered. The Captain Blunt House follows a symmetrical, five-bay, center entrance form, with cedar shake shingles, three pedimented dormers and large portico over the door.

Joshua Wentworth House // 1770

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The Joshua Wentworth House at 27 Hancock Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a high-style Georgian residence built before the American Revolution, and was almost demolished in the name of “urban renewal.” The house has a side-gable roof with three broken-pediment dormers and a wood paneled door with segmental entablature, pilasters, and a five-light transom. Joshua Wentworth (1742–1809) the namesake of the house, was a grandson of John Wentworth (1671–1730), who had served as an early Lieutenant Governor for the Province of New Hampshire, and was himself, a merchant and State legislator. The house was originally located in the North End of Portsmouth, but in the 1970s, urban renewal and local politicians sought to raze portions of the town to “revitalize” the port town. If only they knew that Portsmouth would be the largest tourist draw in the state just for people to see historic, walkable neighborhoods! Businessman Harry Winebaum acquired the house and sought to preserve it. The solution: move the house by barge to the south side of town near Strawberry Banke. Luckily for us, the house was moved in 1973 and was restored. It is a private residence.

Tredick House // c.1802

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The Tredick House is located at 187 Marcy Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and was built in 1802 for Captain Jonathan Martin Tredick (1777-1803) and his new wife, Martha Marshall on land gifted to them by Jonathan’s father, William Tredick. In a tragic shift of fortune, Captain Jonathan Tredick never got to live in his new house as he died at sea, with accounts differing, either from fever or being swept overboard. At the time, Jonathan and Martha had two children, 2 year-old Catherine Marshall Tredick (1801-1822) and newborn Jonathan Marshall Tredick (1802-1875). Martha, a sudden widow at the age of 26 with two children, was aided by her family and that of her late husband, and operated a store nearby to supplement her income until her death at home in 1872, she was 96 and never remarried. The late Georgian style house features a hipped roof with central chimney, pedimented dormers and a pedimented entry and 9-over-six sash windows on the house.

Captain Benjamin Damrell House // c.1812

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The people and buildings of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, have always been closely tied to the sea. Many old houses and commercial buildings here were built for merchants, ship builders, sea captains, and fishermen, who made their living from the charming port town. This historic house at 333 Marcy Street in the Downtown area of Portsmouth, was built around 1812 for Benjamin Damrell (1781-1821) a sea captain, privateer during the War of 1812, and member of the Portsmouth Marine Society and Alert Fire Society of Portsmouth, a volunteer fire fighting group. Captain Damrell died in 1821 while at sea and his property was inherited by his widow, Lucy, who appears to have remained here for some time, raising their daughter.