The Joshua Wentworth House
The home originally stood on Hanover Street, where the Hilton Garden Inn is today. First built as a simple four room house, Joshua Wentworth acquired the property and in 1770 began an ambitious remodeling project transforming the house into a stately Georgian mansion. Joshua detailed the interior with elaborately refined paneling and woodwork, the pattern of which is attributed to an English pattern book published in 1740. Threatened by the Urban Renewal plans which wiped out the densely built and historic north end of Portsmouth, the Winebaum family generously donated the house to Strawbery Banke in 1970. The house was transported by barge to its new location on Hancock Street three years later. The house was listed to the National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1971 and is part of the Strawbery Banke National Register Historic House District. Recently transferred to private ownership with a preservation easement protecting its historic character, the house has been meticulously restored by the current owners and returned to its original function as a home.
