First Week of the 2016 Field School!

This summer our field school students are working at the museum’s Penhallow House, which faces Washington Street and is currently the home of our Properties Staff offices.

Penhallow House today

The most famous resident of this house, for whom the house is named, is Samuel Penhallow. In 1748, Penhallow acquired the land this house was originally built on, on the corner of Pleasant and Court Streets (now part of the Langdon House Property, managed by Historic New England). Penhallow and his wife Prudence lived there until his death in 1810. Penhallow was a Deacon at North Church (in downtown Portsmouth) and was a Justice of the Peace.

The house was moved in 1862 to its current location. Here the house was owned by Leonard Cotton, who owned and rented many houses in this neighborhood (including the two Cotton Tenant Houses on Atkinson Street). 

Penhallow House in the 1860s, after its move

The Penhallow House was turned into a duplex in the late 1800s and rented to multiple families through the late 19th and the 20th century.  Can you spot any differences in these photos that indicate it became a multiple family residence?

Penhallow House in the 1960s

We are working in advance of projects that will be carried out around this house during its rehabilitation through the museum’s Heritage House Program, a program designed to provide both rental space and revenue to support museum operations. We are digging to recover and identify artifacts and features left behind by former occupants of this area. We hope to find evidence of what was here before Penhallow House was moved, along with items that can tell us about the daily life of the 19th and 20th century residents.

Come visit us at the site, weekdays 10-12 and 1-3:30!