Portsmouth NH Historic Houses

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.

Reuben Shapley House // 1813

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Captain Reuben Shapley (1750-1825) was a Portsmouth mariner, merchant, and shipbuilder born on the Isle of Shoals in 1750. He was married to Lydia Blaisdell Shapley, and they had one daughter, Nancy, who died in 1802 at the young age of 17. Shapley bought this house lot in 1790 and erected a barn or outbuilding on the lot, which was nextdoor to his main house. On the evening of August 13, 1811, a sailing ship owned by Captain Shapley, the Wonolanset, caught fire. According to Nathaniel Adams’ 1825 book, Annals of Portsmouth, the ship “had arrived from sea about an hour before, laden with hemp, cotton, molasses, naval stores and flour, and lay at Shapley’s Wharf.” Although townspeople tried to extinguish the blaze, the fire persisted, and they were forced to cut the vessel loose and let it drift safely out into the river and away from other vulnerable ships and warehouses. Captain Shapley’s loss was estimated at $12,000. After this, it appears Reuben got more involved in real estate, and either converted his old barn or built new, this house in 1813, Captain Shapley died in 1825, but the house continued as part of his estate until 1831. The house is now well-preserved and a part of Strawberry Banke’s campus in Portsmouth.

Wibird-Oracle House // 1702

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One of the oldest extant houses in Portsmouth (and New England for that matter) is this gambrel-roofed Georgian house on Marcy Street. The home was originally constructed in 1702 by Richard Wibird, who arrived to Portsmouth in the late-1600s and married Elizabeth Due (Dew) in 1701. Mrs. Due owned a market in town, and that helped propel Richard to be a prosperous merchant. Like many very wealthy residents in New England at the time, he enslaved three Africans and had five properties all over town. The house was moved two times, it was originally built behind the North Meetinghouse on Market Square. It was moved from that location c.1800 to Haymarket Square where Prescott Park is now, and again in 1937 to its present location on Marcy Street. The Portsmouth Oracle, an early newspaper, was printed and edited from this building when it was altered for commercial spaces at the ground floor. The Prescott sisters who developed Prescott Park had the foresight to move this building to the opposite corner and the home was later restored, giving us a glimpse at early 18th century merchant housing.

Shapley Townhouses // 1815

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The Shapley Townhouses in Portsmouth, New Hampshire sit on Court Street and were built around 1814-15, after the Great Portsmouth Fire of 1813 had destroyed the center of town. It was constructed to conform with the new Brick Law that required all new buildings in downtown Portsmouth to be built of “fireproof” brick. The paired townhouses are unusual in the city as a particularly well-preserved example of a Federal period double-house. The house was built by Captain Reuben Shapley, a ship’s captain and merchant. In about 1973, this building was remodeled into a temporary home and counseling center for troubled youth. Suffering from deferred maintenance and the direct proximity to the Strawberry Banke Museum, the Strawberry Banke Foundation purchased the double-house who rent out spaces inside to offices, providing a revenue stream to maintain and further showcase the history of the port town.

Laighton House // c.1795

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This stunning Late-Georgian house in Portsmouth dates to the end of the 18th century and is one of the many well-preserved homes near downtown. Deed research shows that the property was purchased in 1795 by Amos Tappan from a Nabby Chase (a widow) and he would erect this house on the lot. The house was purchased in 1822 and sold again in 1835 to John Laighton, the namesake of the house. John Laighton (1784-1866) was the eleventh of thirteen children. His family were “mechanics” – carpenters and makers of sails, blocks, spars, and masts. He became a mast and block maker with his place of employment not far from the relocated Sheafe Warehouse in Prescott Park (featured on here previously). Captain Laighton held the post of Navy Agent for the port of Portsmouth during the presidencies of William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson, and he also served as mayor of Portsmouth in 1851. In 1864, two years before his death, John Laighton sold the house to his third son, Lafayette Laighton. The historic home features a massive brick chimney at the center ridge, with clapboard walls atop a fieldstone foundation. The facade has a wood-paneled entrance door with four-light transom, pilasters, and triangular pediment. The house faces southwest with a large front lawn, and it sits next-door to the stunning Gov. Langdon House. Pretty spectacular.