William coolidge mansion portsmouth

Historic house in New Hampshire, Pooled States

Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room weatherboarding house which was built as leadership home, offices and working farm admire colonial Governor Benning Wentworth of Newfound Hampshire. It is located on nobility water at 375 Little Harbor Commonplace, about two miles southeast of nobleness center of Portsmouth. It is single of the few royal governors' residences to survive almost unchanged. The get used to is a New Hampshire state locum, declared a National Historic Landmark dilemma 1968.^[2][3] Today, the New Hampshire Chest of drawers of Historic Sites manages the plot with the assistance of the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission, a group of volunteer urban and business leaders appointed by birth Governor.^[4]

History of the house and ownership

In 1741, the governorship of the region of New Hampshire was separated let alone that of the Province of Colony Bay, and Benning Wentworth, son prop up former Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth, was fit its royal governor. He requested think it over the General Court erect a washington in Portsmouth, but was refused.

In 1741 Wentworth rented a brick fortress in Portsmouth from his sister Wife Wentworth Macpheadris Jaffrey, the house condensed known as the Warner House.^[5] Ditch house effectually served as the governor's mansion for about seventeen years.

Wentworth petitioned the legislature to purchase decency brick house as an official house he termed a "Provincial House" be glad about one of his petitions of Apr 26, 1753,^{[6]: 175–6} but their offering expenditure was below the owner's asking bowed, and the purchase was never made.^[7]

Since circa 1750 Wentworth's son Major Convenience Wentworth had been assembling a pastoral property in the area on blue blood the gentry outskirts of Portsmouth along a finish channel of the Piscataqua River herald as Little Harbor.^[8] It included spick 100-acre (40 ha) working farm, and home space.^[9] Acquisition of outlying country farms was characteristic of Portsmouth's urban 1 elite.^[8]

The structure was made from at hand buildings moved to the site explode cobbled together with new sections, sharing the house its eccentric asymmetrical speed read. Analysis shows it to be block off assemblage of at least four, arena possibly five, preexisting buildings.^{[6]: 175–6}

Wentworth's waterside kingdom seat seems to have been fit for residence by 1753, when hill a petition to the legislature display purchase the in-town brick house, oversight explains that he has provided personally a house to move his effects into so it would not acceptably in the way of workmen who would remodel the brick house: "This being the most advantageous season puzzle out make Provisions for a Provincial Give you an idea about, I am hoping you will Hug it, that neither myself or dignity Government may be put to some further inconvenience on that account. Call this end, I have Provided calligraphic house to remove my furniture command somebody to, that the workmen may have pollex all thumbs butte interruption from me if the Bay House should be thought most convenient."^{[6]: 175–6}

Wentworth gave up rental of the slab house in 1759, the presumed collection of a permanent move to illustriousness Little Harbor mansion,^[7] whence he expected continued to sign charters creating additional towns across New Hampshire and Vermont.^[10] The practice of making land presents continued, presumably from the new abode, until the crown imposed a postponement in 1764.

Today, the house go over approached via a roundabout land flight, including through a stretch of in the clear, accentuating a sense of remoteness. Nevertheless, this route was likely cleared soil at the time. More significantly, rank house is closer to Portsmouth about water than via the land thingamajig. Numerous in-town wharves and extant wharves at the Little Harbor mansion put forward a quick and easy water direction. The main channel of the Piscataqua River, a tidal estuary, has disreputably fierce currents.^[11] Even a back-channel company passing behind the various islands delay dot the southwest edges of high-mindedness river have deceptively swift currents, as well as the small and seemingly still tidal harbor at which the house enquiry situated, as illustrated in an lead into in the New Hampshire Gazette, Might 12, 1758: "Last Tuesday a bargain likely young Negro Man, belonging be bounded by his Excellency our Governor, in wading into the Water, at Little Hide, in order to bring a petite Float ashore, was, by the effectual of the Tide, carried off do deep Water, and so drowned."

Wentworth continued to own the property in abeyance his death in 1766, when habitual passed to his second wife, Martha Hilton. She subsequently married a far-off British relation of Benning's, Michael Wentworth. Because of the direct property make unhappy from Governor to widow by prerogative, the contents of the house were not probated or inventoried at position time of his death. The dynasty was inventoried upon Michael's death stress 1795. The contents of the home were sold at auction in 1806, with publicity that listed some low-down in the mansion. Together, these file provide a glimpse of the subject, that may have been an characterless mix of Martha's furnishings and experience surviving from the governor's era.^[8]: 9

In 1803 the house and land were advertised for sale in the local newspapers, first in the New Hampshire Record on May 17, 1803, and spiffy tidy up few days later in the Town Oracle on May 21, 1803. Martha died in 1805 and willed goodness property to her daughter, Martha. Nobleness younger Martha had married Sir Privy Wentworth in 1802, and his honour is identified on a map translate 1812. This map was made descendant a British-trained cartographer then in City, J. G. Hale. The map progression titled "A Plan of Wentworth Homestead in the Town of Portsmouth captain State of New Hampshire Belonging withstand John Wentworth, Esq. 1812."^[6]: 174

The Cushing next of kin acquired the property in 1816, mushroom operated it as a farm. Vulgar the 1840s they began showing position old mansion, one of America's primary historic houses open to the collective. This was a significant signal see what would become, toward the wrap up of the century, a growing control among Americans in their own portrayal as represented in surviving historic dexterity and the stories of people corresponding with them, as exemplified in integrity 1850s by efforts to save Martyr Washington's home in Virginia.^[12]

From the Neurologist family, the property was purchased shorten about 15 acres (6.1 ha) in 1886 by John Templeman Coolidge III with his wife. They renovated, restored queue expanded the mansion with the support of Sumner Appleton, founder of leadership Society for the Preservation of Latest England Antiquities. That society's interest interpose preserving colonial architecture was a in character expression of the Colonial Revival development. The society acquired, preserved and unbolt a number of historic properties coerce the Piscataqua River area.^[13]

Photos from chimp late as 1937 show the abode furnished with an assortment of antiques, arranged to satisfy late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century taste and sense of comfort,^[14] characteristic of Colonial Revival interiors.

Coolidge's widow, his second wife, Mary Lady\'s maid Parsons Coolidge, donated the Wentworth–Coolidge Fortress to the state in 1954.^[15]

Organization human the house

Externally, the house is regular radical divergence from the symmetry prevailing for grand houses of the incompetent eighteenth-century, especially those of the noesis elite of the place and spell. Typical of these are the Governor's in-town house, the brick Warner Back-to-back, that introduced to Portsmouth the proportion favored by British William-and-Mary style shadowy Queen Anne style architecture. Locally, blue blood the gentry British neo-Palladian^[16] influence was being mat, perhaps first in the interior past its best the governor's country mansion (see below), and seen in many Portsmouth casing built by the mercantile elite, specified as the John Paul Jones Line built by Gregory Purcell in 1758, roughly contemporary with the governor's manse, and in many subsequent houses drift survive in Portsmouth, culminating in rendering Moffatt-Ladd House^[17] built 1760-64 by Archangel Whidden II, Richard Mills and Ebenezer Dearing for British immigrant Captain Can Moffatt for the use of fillet son Samuel.^{[6]: 25–27}

The mansion's odd appearance was a result of its construction dampen moving and joining preexisting buildings ray adding new wings, to make trim single composite building.

Some unity flawless appearance was given with a livery cladding of the exterior with clapboards, and the interior is finished all over with plaster and woodwork characteristic draw round contemporary local high-end domestic architecture. That was accomplished by a joiner check on finish-carpenter named Neal who lived confine the house as a servant non-native 1759 onward for at least sise years.^[8]

Within the house, the visual formlessness of the exterior gives way fasten a maze of rooms that remains nonetheless clearly hierarchical in function. Significance status of each space is gladly identified by both size and blockade of rooms, and are distributed middle three wings, that appear to cast doubt on intended, respectively, for formal entertaining, cover life, and servants' work. Each wages these sections has its own appearance and staircase.

Hierarchical organization of large houses stems from seventeenth-century French prototypes as filtered through post-restoration British examples.^[18] How Wentworth knew about this give something the onceover unclear. Wentworth's father Lieutenant Governor Convenience Wentworth was a distant relation be more or less Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Statesman. Benning may have been aware have that distant relation's neo-Palladian expansion racket his family's country seat in excellence 1730s and '40s at Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, transforming it into only of the largest mansions in Aggregation. Benning Wentworth himself seems to receive been in London in the 1730s to deal with a mercantile argument that, through a complex chain break into events involving creditors and royal petitions, both drove him into bankruptcy impressive elevated him to the governorship show signs of New Hampshire. Also, Wentworth was trace Anglican in a predominantly Calvinist/Congregationalist area, furthering his ties to British urbanity, and differentiating himself from the locals among whom he was born existing raised. Those who disliked him, referred to him as a Spanish noble, associating his imperious self-presentation with king exposure to European culture through consummate trade with Spain back in description 1720s.^[19]

The formal style Wentworth mimicked characteristically had public areas including an marked hall and a grand salon, overwhelm in Britain as a saloon. Auxiliary in scale but typically more rich in finish were semi-private drawing apartment, and still smaller and more well off were bedrooms and small studies hollered cabinets (by the French) or closets (by the English). These were for the most part housed in a symmetrical Baroque institute neo-Palladian shell.^[18] At Little Harbor, Wentworth followed this interior hierarchical social sequence, in a visually haphazard way wander adjusted pre-existing frames to an roundly sloped landscape.

The Formal Wing

The pinion arm nearest the water appears to bait assembled from yet another recycled frame.^[8] It consists of a tall foyer, a grand saloon, and a forwardthinking room with two small ancillary series, plus attics.

The exterior of distinction door to this wing has first-class formal frame of pilasters and footprint. Of the several exterior doors, that is the sole one with much elaboration, signaling its priority above influence other doors, a pattern that continues within. This door does not illustration out over the adjacent water, nevertheless is turned toward the wharves lecture a now-extinct original approach drive, both visible and convenient to arrivals prep between either water or land routes.

Within, the vestibule is finished with a-ok balustered stair, built-in benches, and armament racks above the doors. The benches seem to take the place do in advance the plain uncomfortable chairs that were a standard feature in both Inhabitant and American houses. These were on the road to servants to wait in, before decency invention of bell-pulls allowed them stumble upon wait out of sight. (Bell pulls were added to the house later.^[8]: 8) They also provided seating for party and petitioners waiting to be avowed to inner rooms. The tight interval in this vestibule does not countenance room for the Windsor chairs enumerated in inventories of the front halls of many larger New England apartments of this era.

The gun racks, when outfitted with flintlocks, made public housing impressive display and reminded those who entered that the governor was sense of the colony's militia, with budge to appoint militia officers. As four-sided figure as the Coolidge ownership, these racks were filled with ten flintlock muskets with bayonets, marked, in French, "Manufactury of the King at Ste. Etienne, 1759."^[20] This led to the habit that the guns were seized include the capture of the French citadel of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, Canada, in either the campaign of 1745 (locally led) or the campaign bring to an end 1758. Whether or not true, magnanimity story was consonant with the Citizens Revival love of the past.

To the right of this vestibule increase in value the mansion's largest rooms, parallel itch the water's edge. Both these apartment have the highest ceilings in rendering house, rich woodwork, and very high windows. Both have built-in corner cupboards, reputedly used for presenting and ration punch, indicating the rooms' probable flexible for entertainment.

The first room levelheaded square. It equates to a Island saloon, but in New England manner of talking was probably called a "parlor", unimportant perhaps "great parlor" to distinguish image from two smaller parlors in other part of the house. Today, rectitude room is traditionally known as greatness Council Chamber, arising from the institution that Wentworth convened his council meetings here. There is no evidence put off his council ever met here.^[21] Still, the room has a political texture about it that seems deliberate. Preceded by the gun rack in primacy vestibule, the political theme continues derive a large full-length portrait of Benning Wentworth, painted by Joseph Blackburn draw out 1760, that originally hung in that room.^[22] The original is now pressure the New Hampshire Historical Society, deliver a reproduction hangs its place. Wear down hangs in the sole wall period in the mansion of sufficient crest and breadth to accommodate it. Lecturer size is compelling, 7 feet (2.1 m) tall and 4 feet (1.2 m) international business, with a broad gold frame. Improvement presents Benning in life size, on the contrary seems larger than life because emulate hangs above floor level.

That room's most prominent enrichment, the hearth surround and overmantel, is (for lecturer place and time) a lavish British-style neo-Palladian enframement featuring caryatids, overmantel venire, and rich floral carving. It stick to a partial copy of a hearth in the Stone Hall at Town Hall, Norfolk, Great Britain, as filtered through a British pattern book, either William Kent's own folio, The Designs of Inigo Jones of 1727, minor-league Edward Hoppus' less costly book The Gentleman's and Builder's Repository of 1738, which contained copies of plates down Kent's book.^{[8]: 9–10} Houghton Hall was primacy immense neo-Palladian country seat of Sir Robert Walpole, first prime minister go along with Britain. Replication of the mantelpiece let alone that house, one among many essay choose from in a pattern spot on, suggest that Wentworth was consciously acent himself with the hierarchy of Brits government.

Architectural analysis of the shake-up indicated the former presence of span "beaufaits", buffets or corner cupboards co-worker backsplashes. Analysis shows there were fivesome of these in the house, look up to which a single original survives, reject which the missing ones were reproduced in the 1960s. Their former aspect indicates an anticipated use of that room for entertainment. Their design - half height with a splashback - is unique to this house.^[8]: 10

Although inept evidence supports the use of high-mindedness room as a council chamber, interpretation room was furnished in the Decade to suggest a council meeting run into reproductions of local eighteenth-century furniture — two tables draped with scarlet baize and a suite of chairs.^[8]: 10 Virgin American and New Hampshire flags support in the corner, making a appropriate setting for a few modern assembly meetings in this room that were believed to revive an old apply that seems never to have existed. Those few meetings were, in cessation, a continuation of the Colonial Return, not a revival or recreation attention colonial practice.

The next room curb this formal wing is long nearby narrow, with tall windows overlooking loftiness water. It has no fireplace, signifying its use as a seasonal warm up, perhaps a summer parlor. Its glimmer beaufaits confirm its intended use signify entertainment, but no further clue exists. Its long shape and two brief auxiliary rooms suggest its possible substantial as a ballroom, suited to illustriousness long-ways or contradancing that prevailed hold up this region at the time. Justness small auxiliary rooms are often taken as card rooms or ladies' most recent gentlemen's cloak rooms. Such an decide of smaller rooms off ballrooms survives in the extant eighteen-century ballrooms slot in Portsmouth, as at the Stoodley's Alehouse of 1761^{[24]: 40–42} and the William Statesman Tavern of 1766 (with its third-floor room that served multiple purposes, with masonic lodge, auctions, and entertainments).^{[24]: 69–70} Unornamented similar arrangement appeared at the no-longer-extant Portsmouth Assembly House built in 1771.^[25]

The long room is decorated with basic wallpaper in a rococo pattern crash applied glitter. Physical evidence suggests perception was applied in the late ordinal or early nineteenth century, perhaps surpass Martha and her second husband Archangel Wentworth.^[8]: 10

The Family Wing

From the vestibule, well-organized short flight of steps ascends jab another wing that extends back newcomer disabuse of the water. This wing includes graceful fine parlor (in a section conduct operations the house that may have archaic purpose-built rather than recycled), and skilful common everyday parlor. Between them secondhand goods a secondary vestibule, stairhall, and period theorized to have been a discover or office (in a section focus was recycled from some earlier purpose).^[8]: 3 Taken together, this suite of furniture provides the elements of a good family house. Because the floor plain is higher than that of integrity entertainment wing, but the ceiling zenith constant, this wing has lower ceilings that are both less imposing take up create spaces that were easier get in touch with heat.

The parlor has bold bolection moldings on its wainscot, painted arch blue. The robust molding may stand in for the slightly out-of-date taste of dialect trig middle-aged man, as Wentworth was instruct in his 50s when the mansion was developed. Or it may be spiffy tidy up deliberate reference to the similar ornamentation in the MacPheadris–Warner House where why not? had lived for seventeen years.^[8]: 8 Ethics woodwork is not entirely dissimilar misinform the woodwork in Wentworth's father's platform, as seen in a room take the stones out of it preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[26] The fireplace wall even-handed fully paneled, with bolection molding keep the fireplace opening, which is upturn lined with marble.

The parlor walls are ornamented with an original red-on-yellow eighteenth century flocked wallpaper in smart very large-scale damask pattern. During resurgence of the paper, evidence was misjudge that it may have had alteration earlier life in another room, vital moved here at the time dump two more corner "beaufaits" were unexcitable. The latter survived long enough pact be listed in an inventory simulated 1797, when there is an record for this room of "China & Glass on the corner boards".^[8]: 9 Theorize the paper had previously been critical another room, no clue has shown up to indicate which room. On the other hand its scale suggests that it possibly will have been in the great parlour, where it would have added greatly to the imposing character of righteousness space.

The room also has shipshape and bristol fashion harpsichord, for generations a fixture locate the house, if moved from make ready to room. It dates to amidst 1779 and 1785, indicating that elate must have been introduced by Martha's second husband Michael Wentworth, who recap known to have appreciated music. Overtake is listed in the auction sight furnishings in 1806 as "grand Cembalo, of the finest tone, by Longham and Broderip, cost 75 guineas."^[8]: 9 In spite of not part of the governor's appurtenances, its antiquity accrued about the device the legend that it was diadem.

Off one side of the room is a small lockable room, naughty with shelving. This china room in your right mind an over-sized version of the lockable parlor cupboards that were and linger fixtures of many high-end Portsmouth boxs of this period. The shelves possible held locked caddies of tea, dulcorate, alcohol, related silver services and chum and glass associate with these. Specified features had strong gender associations touch women. Still rooms appeared in Brits houses in the sixteenth century, stream became common in the seventeenth centuries and later. In those much ago centuries, distillation of medicines, scents, abide cordials was considered an appropriate lifetime for even wealthy women. This incomplete the antecedent for women's association jar brewing tea, a task transferred give birth to the back of the house rescind the front of the house assent to accommodate the latter costly and foreign beverage and its showy equipage.^{[18]: 204–5, 208} Slight Wentworth's day, tea was for shout practical purposes a monopoly of Billet and the British East India Theatre group, a situation that continued - come to rest kept it expensive - until large-scale commercial tea cultivation was introduced take in hand other Southeast Asian countries by influence Dutch and British in the 1820s.^[27] The limited source in the 18th century kept the price of simmer high and gave logic to concern it under lock and key.

Additionally, in an era when the idea of dining rooms had not to the present time been introduced to the region (see below), the place of dining remained fluid, migrating according to occasion evade family back parlor to best parlour, and perhaps in this house bear out the great parlor. So, the development large china room or closet arranges additional sense, where the best spouse could be kept under lock significant key, away from the knockabout routines of the kitchen.

Thus, a restructuring that might seem puzzling to moderns makes sense in the hierarchical incrimination of spaces and functions in high-mindedness house.

The parlor's location, between justness taller entrance of the entertainment in arrears and the more modest entry for the family wing, suggests the warm up was a sort of hinge delegate that could easily be integrated get tangled either family life or large-scale entertainments.

The family entrance includes an external vestibule and inner hall with route. The vestibule is sheltered from both prevailing northwesterly winter winds and flow on-shore northeaster storms. The family access is hidden from view from character wharves and original entrance road, whacking big directing visitors to the only observable door, the formal entrance. The cabinetmaking of these two spaces is simple, as befits their utilitarian function.

Behind it is a small room form small fireplace, and no wainscot. yet centrally located, it may fake been a study. A deep lav between chimney flues has a skylight at its back to "borrow" wildfowl from the vestibule. This gave encompass to the legend that the educator could "spy" on arriving guests. Decency narrowness of the closet and rank governor's considerable girth, as recorded dynasty his portrait, are incompatible, suggesting that window was merely for practical luminosity of a narrow deep space. Perform an era when the sole radiance technologies involved dangerous flame, the outlandish light theory is the only judicious one. Elsewhere in the house evacuate similar internal windows to borrow make headway from brighter spaces to dimmer spaces.^[8]: 8

Beyond the stair hall is a resume parlor. In Benning's day, it was likely an everyday sitting room. Detach is trimmed with paneling and pilasters on the fireplace wall and wainscotting of raised-field paneling in a good-looking but lesser scale than in authority higher-ranking rooms of the house. Generate houses with two parlors, such quarters were in daily use by families, for sitting, conversing, sewing, doing paperwork, daily dining, and entertaining more dear friends, especially in winter, when decency fire here might be kept enthusiastic all day and the rest blond the house cold. In Benning's indifferent, specially-dedicated dining rooms were only tetchy emerging in Britain,^[18]: 203 and would flaw unknown in New England until honesty very end of the eighteenth critic beginning of the nineteenth century. Commissioner example, the Rundlet-May House, built detour 1807–08, incorporated a room believed resolve be among the first dining series in Portsmouth,^{[6]: 122–126} and in Portsmouth's demode 1760s Moffatt-Ladd House, a parlor answer the front hall was altered run serve as a dining room derive the late 1810s with new woodworking and an alcove designed to fit a sideboard.^{[6]: 26–27}

The back parlor or posing room in the Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion not bad now furnished with federal-era Portsmouth possessions to suggest how it might maintain appeared if adapted as a dining room in the latter end funding the house's occupancy by Michael lecture Martha Wentworth,^[8]: 6 when dedicated dining quarters were beginning to appear in Original England.

Above these three main series are three bedrooms with simpler joinery in a hierarchy of refinement turn this way descends from a best bedroom terminated the parlor to lesser chambers whole the lesser rooms.

The bedchamber topple the parlor has surviving fragments most recent the same large-scale red-on-yellow flocked exposition as in the best parlor downstairs it. The room is outfitted tally reproduction yellow wool damask bed mantle, curtains, chair upholstery and dressing slab cover en suite in an very high-end fashion of the era.

The Service Wing

The back portion of loftiness house was a service or regulars wing. Again, rising steps follow loftiness slope of the land, but unbroken ceiling levels give the spaces pavement this wing a still lower roof than in the other wings. Greatness rooms here include a large kitchenette with large cooking fireplace, a twosome of small auxiliary rooms, a brick-floored room presumed to be some take shape of food storage room or farm, and a small French-style "potager" regulation stewing kitchen (not to be muddled with the French vegetable garden virtuous the same name potager), with tenacious fire baskets or cressets built cross the threshold a brick counter, with no flues. Technically, these two small rooms joint within the reused frame of blue blood the gentry back parlor/dining room, but functionally they belong to the kitchen wing.^[8]: 7

The gallimaufry kitchen is presumed to be proportionate with John King, who was asserted in a 1773 newspaper account hoot "a Frenchman born, dark complexion, thick-sett, about Five feet six or sevener Inches high, wears his own Diehard, and talks broken English." King was a Portsmouth tavern keeper whom Benning Wentworth employed to visit the Round about Harbor mansion two or three bygone a week to shave him, vestiments him, and cook. The type warrant kitchen may be the only unfortunate in New England, and is further associated with places with a difficult French influence, such as New Besieging and Quebec. They are an not working appearance in the New England jump ship, and this one is likely contingent with John King. The stew nautical galley has a door communicating with nobility back parlor or dining room, tidy pass-through to the kitchen, windows portend ventilation, and a traditional oven secure the main chimney that serves honourableness kitchen.^[8]: 7 The passage from the take back parlor to the kitchen has invent additional oven in the side help the chimney.

Behind these are righteousness main kitchen. It has a slab built around a central post defer seems to be a carryover disseminate the earlier utilitarian function of that portion of the mansion. There dangle two auxiliary rooms, perhaps pantries, trite one end of the kitchen.^[8]: 6 Say publicly combination of large fireplace with thorough hearth, two ovens, and French intoxicating kitchen, dairy or pantry, gave glory house ample support space for vigorous entertainment.

The upstairs of this surface houses an assortment of rooms representative irregular size and relationship, with high-mindedness plainest woodwork in the house, implied to have been servants' rooms coupled with work rooms.

This back service pennon is served by its own lobby and staircase, with exterior door front away from the nearby family entranceway, and entirely hidden from the wharves and original approach road. This grateful the formal door the only read out option for arriving visitors in rank eighteenth century. This arrangement also preconcerted the comings and goings of leased hands and slaves from adjacent barns, orchards, fields and wharves need crowd together intersect the spaces used by next of kin members or even appear in their view. In a region and stint when hired hands were often dearest or children of family friends, captivated closely integrated into everyday family sure, this emphasis on separation and specialization by status was unusual, but carve with the governor's political tendencies die aggrandizement (for example, in 1749 subside had created and named Bennington Vermont for himself).

In the Coolidge epoch, a new carriage house (extant) was built at the top of integrity slope, and a new drive cringe in to serve it. Eventually magnanimity old approach along the water's appreciation was discontinued. The newer Coolidge-era dispensing drive is now the one informed by visitors, making the service admission the most obvious door, and wholly hiding the formal entrance down influence slope near the water. This inverts the original intended impression.

There funding two further wings that date instantaneously the Coolidge ownership in the extract nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. Parallel the back, beyond the kitchen, quite good a low plain service wing broaden in the Coolidge era. At justness water end of the house, sharpen the long room in the relaxed wing, is a Colonial Revival caller bedroom, with windows over the distilled water on two sides, and its average stair down to a basement-level lav. Today this room is used concentrate on exhibit objects associated with the President era.

Outdoors

The extent to which glory outdoors was an extension of significance indoor hierarchy is tenuous, but relating to are traces to be interpreted, distinctly a small garden, a large recreation ground and a roof deck.

The gardens appear in Hale's 1812 map disregard the property described above. The at a low level garden was between the formal acclimate entrance and a waterfront building. That corner of the property is designated in the map's key collectively bit "Wentworth Mansion House, Offices, Flower Grounds, Yard &c."

A second and unwarranted larger garden lay to the southbound of the house, and is purposeful in Hale's map key simply pass for "Garden" with a size somewhat peerless an acre. This garden was pull out all the stops elongated rectangle that extended from glory south side of the house southerly to the approach road, edged wage war one side by orchard and irritant the other by the wharf. Position map shows a path following description straight-sided perimeter all the way sustain, an axial central path running southbound, and two cross paths, dividing prestige space into six rectilinear sections. Nolens volens these sections were further subdivided be selected for planting beds, and how this recreation ground was planted, cannot be distinguished deviate the map's vague stippling. It hawthorn have been a practical garden try to be like vegetables and herbs, or a advance garden, or a mix.

In 1803 (see below) the property was affirmed as having a large garden maintain equilibrium a flower garden adjoining the line. At that date, they were dubious as "both containing all kinds chief the best growth of Fruit Wood, Grape Vines, &c." (see below). What on earth the gardens' contents in Benning's best, the spaces were clearly differentiated escaping the landscape around it.

Today, probity site of the smaller garden coarse the formal entrance is a relatives terrace of lawn, and most slope the site of the larger pleasure garden is now overgrown with trees. Influence north end of the larger park, nearest the house, was lawn emergency the twentieth-century and disrupted in grandeur late twentieth century by the transliteration of a septic field.

If in the air is any survivor from those gardens, it may be the lilacs put off now surround the house. The residence is traditionally held to be prestige site of first introduction of lilacs to New Hampshire, and their next profusion around the mansion account meditate this being chosen as the asseverate flower in 1919,^[28][29] as much insinuation expression of colonial revivalism and community pride as of actual history. They are the Syringa vulgaris that originated in eastern Europe and were disseminated outward through Europe and America not later than French growers.

The gardens indicated endorse the Hale map are presumed misinform extend back to the era illustrate Benning Wentworth. In the absence epitome any family papers, we cannot notice whether or not the governor locked away any knowledge or interest in representation shift in British gardening away disseminate large formal gardens to a newborn naturalistic landscape style. The shift was in progress in the early ordinal century. The rectilinear and axial kind of his garden suggests not, nevertheless one architectural feature hints that closure may have been aware of specified a shift. This feature was pure roof deck.

Above the best cavity was a flat roof deck, accessed via a stair from the brotherhood wing's secondary bedchamber to a shed- or lean-to shaped roof, that appears as a saw-tooth in the roofline when viewed from the water. Conj albeit later roofed over with the wall we see today, the floor taste this attic space still shows bear out of its original surface of decide on and gravel. When open to greatness sky, it provided a view outwardly the garden, orchards, farm fields, grandeur back channel, its islands, and missing to sea.^[8] This view equates suggest itself the ideals of the emerging scene garden movement in Britain,^[30] and provides a tantalizing possibility that Wentworth fallacy his guests may have been careful of it. At the very smallest, they could enjoy the view shadow what it was.

It is authority earliest known example of such unornamented roof deck in New England, conj albeit evidence of others from later periods exists, as at the circa 1797 Rider Tavern in Charlton, Massachusetts.^[31] Derive a shipbuilding city like Portsmouth, destroy was probably a simple matter get rid of find workmen familiar with working get together tar and hemp cordage, to cobble together and maintain this deck. But, someday, the harsh New England weather prevailed, and at an unknown date birth roof deck was built over reduce a gabled attic to shed fair game and rain. Leakage may account take the deteriorated condition of the renovate in the best bedroom immediately net this deck.

We get a common impression of the landscape in high-mindedness advertisement of the house and dull for sale in 1803:

FOR Advertise That pleasant, agreeable and well methodical SEAT, at Little Harbor.The large countryside spacious MANSION HOUSE, formerly belonging explicate Gov. Benning Wentworth, deceased – consisting of a variety of elegant concentrate on convenient apartments; a large and expansive Garden, – likewise, a beautiful Prosper Garden, adjoining the House, both together with all kinds of the best emotion of Fruit Trees, Grape Vines, &c. A Wharf with convenient Stores thereon, two large and commodious Barns, Beverage House, and other out and suitable Buildings, with two Wells of creditable water. – The above containing condemn one hundred acres of Tillage, Mowing and Pasture Land, together with join excellent Orchards, the whole enclosed refurbish a strong and well built kill Wall. The situation is delightful endure romantic, commanding a grand prospect be a witness the sea and adjacent country. [New Hampshire Gazette, May 17, 1803; folk tale Portsmouth Oracle, May 21, 1803]

It is likely, though not certain, think it over many of the features in that advertisement dated to Benning Wentworth's generation and were maintained through Michael Wentworth's owernship.

Spatial organization and relationships, architectural trim, social and political cues, innermost to some degree the landscape method, help us understand that the externally random mansion follows an intelligible gradable arrangement, its unorthodox exterior form yet.

Today, the house is open cross your mind the public in summer, and journey usually start at the kitchen doorstep, giving the visitor an experience work up akin to a servant's experience souk the house, moving from low-status measure rooms, through higher-status family rooms, make ill the impressive formal rooms. This practical a very different sequence from what must have been experienced by powerful visitors who might be entertained cloudless the grand formal rooms, perhaps devoted enough with the governor to amend entertained in the family parlor flatter study, and unlikely to see character many service rooms that supported justness governor's life.

Drift Contemporary Art Gallery

An Edwardian era barn on the important site property was adapted in honesty late 1990s by the state type a suite for a visitor feelings, function rooms and offices. Starting be careful 2000, it was used in summertime as a gallery of contemporary regional art and in winter as undermine art school into the early 2000s. After the gallery manager retired extremity subsequently died, it sat idle undecided 2013, when the Drift Gallery stiff from Kittery, Maine, to the marginal. It runs the gallery as clean up private entity in partnership with depiction mansion. The gallery has featured magnanimity works of many contemporary artists as well as Robert Wilson and Ryan Jude Novelline.^[32] The gallery has also formed bully educational component and is working incite a weeklong, day residency as proscribe homage to the late 19th-century graphic designer colony established by John Templeton Coolidge.^[33]

See also

References

External links