Moffatt-Ladd House.
The square, clapboarded building stands on a slight elevation overlooking old Portsmouth Harbor. Noteworthy features of the elaborate exterior include white corner quoins and richly pedimented first- and second-floor windows. The third-story windows, smaller in size, abut the distinctive cornice. Side windows, like those on the third-floor front, lack pediments. Rear windows on the first two stories have flat arches with lengthened keystones. The hip roof, flanked by three end chimneys, is cut off to form a flat deck, or captain’s walk, which is enclosed by an attractive balustrade with urn finials. A delicate fence with large ornamental posts, also topped by urn finials, spans the front of the house, which is approached by a flight of granite steps that lead up to the portico-covered entranceway. Near the front northeast comer of the residence is the countinghouse, or office (1810), a small, square building with a hip roof.
The interior of the house is as highly embellished as the exterior. The outstanding room on the first floor is the unusually spacious entrance hall, one of the finest in New England. Its carved cornice is handsome, and the walls are covered with rare imported French wallpaper of the early 19th century. The beautiful and finely carved flight of stairs is lighted by a roundheaded window in the side wall above the landing. Except for the simple detail in the drawing room, that in other first-floor rooms—dining room and pantry—is rich. Four bedrooms are located on the second floor, and five additional chambers on the third. Three of the second-floor bedrooms have richly carved overmantels.
The carefully restored house and grounds were owned by the Ladd family, descendants of the Moffatts through marriage, until 1969. From 1913 until 1969, they leased the house to the Colonial Dames of America, which maintained it for public display. In 1969 the Colonial Dames acquired full title to the property. The first two floors of the house are furnished in period pieces, and the third floor is not open.
Thornton House, New Hampshire ∆
Location: Rockingham County, 2 Thornton Street, Derry Village.
Matthew Thornton lived in this residence, which has since been considerably altered, during his medical and most of his political career. He probably acquired it in 1740, the year he moved from Worcester, Mass., to present Derry Village (then a part of Londonderry) to set up his medical practice. He resided in it until about 1780, when he retired as a doctor and moved to a farm near Merrimack, N.H.
The gable roof of the two-story frame structure, of the saltbox type, slopes steeply to the rear, or north, and forms a one-story lean-to. Two interior chimneys sit behind the ridge of the roof. The exterior, remodeled in the Greek Revival style probably in the mid-19th century, features giant pilasters on the front corners and a one-story portico over the center door. The clapboarding is a replacement of the original. All windows, including those in the gable ends, have exterior louvered shutters, and flat cornices surmount those on the first floor. A one-story frame service ell, extending from the northwest corner and giving the house its present L-shape, contains the modernized kitchen and what were once workrooms for servants.