Governor John Langdon House

Last updated

Gov. John Langdon Mansion
Portsmouth, NH - Governor John Langdon House.JPG
USA New Hampshire location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location143 Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Coordinates 43°4′31″N70°45′23″W / 43.07528°N 70.75639°W / 43.07528; -70.75639
Built1784
Architectural style Georgian
NRHP reference No. 74000197
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 2, 1974 [1]
Designated NHLDecember 2, 1974 [2]

The Governor John Langdon House, also known as Governor John Langdon Mansion, is a historic mansion house at 143 Pleasant Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. It was built in 1784 by Founding Father John Langdon (1741-1819), a merchant, shipbuilder, American Revolutionary War general, signer of the United States Constitution, and three-term President (now termed governor) of New Hampshire. The house he built for his family showed his status as Portsmouth's leading citizen and received praise from George Washington, who visited there in 1789. Its reception rooms are ornamented by elaborate wood carving in the rococo style. [3] The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974, and is now a house museum operated by Historic New England.

Contents

The house Langdon had built resembles typical late Georgian houses, with five bays across, a center entry, and four rooms on each floor, flanking a grand central hall and stairway. It is built on a larger and grander scale than most houses, and has very high quality interior woodwork. The interior joinery is attributed to Ebenezer Clifford, a leading woodworker of the Portsmouth area. [4] The main entry is also particularly elaborate with a large door flanked by pairs of engaged columns, and sheltered by a semi-circular portico supported by Corinthian columns and topped by a balustrade. [3]

After Langdon's death in 1819, his lone surviving daughter continued to use the house, but did not live there. Between 1833 and 1902 the house passed through several hands. In the 1850s a fire severely damaged the southwest corner of the house, which was reconstructed. In 1877 the house came into the hands of Frances E. Bassett, a descendant of John Langdon's brother Woodbury. Her son and daughter-in-law, Woodbury and Elizabeth Langdon, converted the house into a Colonial Revival showplace, adding a two-story wing designed by McKim, Mead & White whose details harmonize well with the original structure, and include a dining room based on one built by the ancestral Woodbury Langdon and preserved in the Rockingham Hotel. Elizabeth Langdon deeded the property to Historic New England in 1947. [4]

The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974. [2] [3] It is open to the public for tours on weekends from June to October, and the grounds are available for functions.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Langdon (politician)</span> American politician and Founding Father (1741-1819)

John Langdon was an American politician and Founding Father from New Hampshire. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, signed the United States Constitution, and was one of the first two United States senators from New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodbury Langdon</span> American politician

Woodbury Langdon was an American merchant, politician and justice from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was the brother of John Langdon, a Founding Father who served as both senator from and Governor of New Hampshire, and father-in-law of Edmund Roberts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Pierce Homestead</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Franklin Pierce Homestead is a historic house museum and state park located in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. It was the childhood home of the fourteenth president of the United States, Franklin Pierce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Jackson House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Richard Jackson House is a historic house in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built in 1664 by Richard Jackson, it is the oldest wood-frame house in New Hampshire. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is now a historic house museum owned by Historic New England, and is open two Saturdays a month between June and October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyde Hall</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Hyde Hall is a neoclassical country mansion in Springfield Center, New York, designed by architect Philip Hooker for George Clarke (1768–1835), a wealthy landowner. The house was constructed between 1817 and 1834, and designed with English and American architectural features. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 for its architecture, and the completeness of its architectural documentary record. It is one of the few surviving works of Philip Hooker, a leading 19th-century American architect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Paul Jones House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The John Paul Jones House is a historic house at 43 Middle Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Now a historic house museum and a National Historic Landmark, it is where American Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones, resided from 1781-82 when it was operated as a boarding house. He also lived in a home in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Caroline Street, owned by his brother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ladd-Gilman House</span> United States historic place

The Ladd-Gilman House, also known as Cincinnati Memorial Hall, is a historic house at 1 Governors Lane in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States. The home was built about 1721 by Nathaniel Ladd as one of the state's first brick houses, and was subsequently clapboarded three decades later. The home was purchased in 1747 by Daniel Gilman, a prominent Exeter merchant. It served as the state treasury during the American Revolutionary War when two members of the Gilman family, Col. Nicholas Gilman and his son John Taylor Gilman, later the state's governor, served as treasurers of the state. Also born in the house was Founding Father Nicholas Gilman, Jr., a signer of the United States Constitution and U.S. senator from New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MacPheadris–Warner House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Warner House, formerly known as the MacPheadris–Warner House, is a historic house museum at 150 Daniel Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. Built 1716–1718, it is the oldest, urban brick house in northern New England, and is one of the finest early-Georgian brick houses in New England. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

Wentworth–Coolidge Mansion is a 40-room clapboard house which was built as the home, offices and working farm of colonial Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire. It is located on the water at 375 Little Harbor Road, about two miles southeast of the center of Portsmouth. It is one of the few royal governors' residences to survive almost unchanged. The site is a New Hampshire state park, declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. Today, the New Hampshire Bureau of Historic Sites manages the site with the assistance of the Wentworth-Coolidge Commission, a group of volunteer civic and business leaders appointed by the Governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth-Gardner House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Wentworth-Gardner House is a historic mid-Georgian house, located at 50 Mechanic Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. The house is operated as a museum by the Wentworth-Gardner Historic House Association. It is one of the finest extant examples of high-style Georgian architecture in New England, and played a role in the architectural preservation movement of the early 20th century. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth Lear Historic Houses</span> Historic houses in New Hampshire, United States

The Wentworth Lear Historic Houses are a pair of adjacent historic houses on the south waterfront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Both buildings and an 18th-century warehouse were owned by the Wentworth Lear Historic Houses and were operated as a house museum. Only the Wentworth-Gardner house is a museum.They are located at the corner of Mechanic and Gardner Streets. The two houses, built c. 1750–60, represent a study in contrast between high-style and vernacular Georgian styling. The Wentworth-Gardner House is a National Historic Landmark, and the houses are listed as the Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Brown House (Providence, Rhode Island)</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The John Brown House is the first mansion built in Providence, Rhode Island, located at 52 Power Street on College Hill where it borders the campus of Brown University. The house is named after the original owner, one of the early benefactors of the university, merchant, statesman, and slave trader John Brown. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1968. John Quincy Adams considered it "the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corliss–Carrington House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The Corliss–Carrington House is a National Historic Landmark house at 66 Williams Street in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. Built in 1812, it is significant as a high-quality and well-preserved example of an Adamesque-Federal style town house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitehall (Annapolis, Maryland)</span> Historic house in Maryland, United States

Whitehall is a colonial home that was built beginning in 1764 near Annapolis in Anne Arundel County in the Province of Maryland by Horatio Sharpe, then the provincial governor of the British colony of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old North Cemetery (Portsmouth, New Hampshire)</span> United States historic place

Old North Cemetery is a historic cemetery on Maplewood Avenue in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is a roughly 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) parcel of land north of the city center on the shore of North Mill Pond. Its earliest burials are dated to 1751, although it was not formally established as a cemetery until 1753. It is the largest of the city's 18th century cemeteries, and is remarkable for the relatively distant locations some of the stonecarvers came from whose work appears in it. The cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockingham Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Rockingham Hotel is a historic former hotel and contemporary condominium at 401 State Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1885, it is a prominent early example of Colonial Revival architecture, built in part in homage to Woodbury Langdon, whose 1785 home occupied the site. Langdon's home and the hotel both played host to leading figures of their day, and the hotel was one of the finest in northern New England. The hotel, now converted to condominiums, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shedd-Porter Memorial Library</span> United States historic place

The Shedd-Porter Memorial Library, located at 3 Main Street, is the public library of Alstead, New Hampshire. The library building was a gift to the town from John Graves Shedd and Mary Roenna (Porter) Shedd, and is a Beaux Arts building built in 1910 to a design by William H. McLean and Albert H. Wright. Shedd also donated 2,000 books to the library, whose collection now exceeds 10,000 volumes. The library building, one of the finest of the period in the state, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haven-White House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Haven-White House is a historic house at 229 Pleasant Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built about 1800 for a prosperous merchant, it is an important early example of the city's Federal architecture, with numerous high-quality interior features, and a rare surviving period stable. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pinkham House</span> Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Daniel Pinkham House is a historic house at 400 The Hill in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built c. 1813–15, it is one of the finest Federal period houses surviving on the city's north side. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stratham Historical Society</span> American historic building in New Hampshire

The Stratham Historical Society is a local historical society serving the town of Stratham, New Hampshire. Its headquarters are at 158 Portsmouth Avenue, in the former Wiggin Memorial Library building. That building, constructed in 1912, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2012.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Gov. John Langdon Mansion". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Robert C. Post (July 3, 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Gov. John Langdon Mansion" (pdf). National Park Service.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 3 photos, exterior, from 1973.  (788 KB)
  4. 1 2 "History of the Langdon House". Historic New England. Retrieved June 30, 2014.