New research from Strawbery Banke Museum presents a fresh look at the experiences of several well-known residents of the Puddle Dock neighborhood throughout the revolutionary period.

On this brand new walking tour, you’ll visit the ca. 1716 Warner House and the ca. 1760 Wentworth-Gardner House, both owned by Loyalists during the American Revolution. Guides will walk you through both houses, sharing stories of the families who lived in the homes and highlighting the fully furnished rooms. Guides will also explain why both families held onto their loyalist ties, some to their detriment and how others managed to play both sides.

All tours start at 50 Mechanic St., Portsmouth - the Wentworth-Gardner House and will end at the Warner House at 150 Daniel St.

On Wednesday, Sept 9 at 5:30pm, local writer D. Allan Kerr will remind us that while patriots like Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams are lionized by Americans 250 years later, there were many other Founding Fathers who are not as widely celebrated. The Seacoast is extremely fortunate to claim one of our own among these leaders of the American Revolution. Gen. Whipple was a fascinating, blunt, almost zealous character with an uncanny knack for being present at key moments of the Revolution. Come learn more about this passionate patriot (who most likely did not see eye-to-eye with Jonathan Warner) at our next History & Soup talk.

On this brand new walking tour, you’ll visit the ca. 1716 Warner House and the ca. 1760 Wentworth-Gardner House, both owned by Loyalists during the American Revolution. Guides will walk you through both houses, sharing stories of the families who lived in the homes and highlighting the fully furnished rooms. Guides will also explain why both families held onto their loyalist ties, some to their detriment and how others managed to play both sides.

All tours start at 50 Mechanic St., Portsmouth - the Wentworth-Gardner House and will end at the Warner House at 150 Daniel St.

On this brand new walking tour, you’ll visit the ca. 1716 Warner House and the ca. 1760 Wentworth-Gardner House, both owned by Loyalists during the American Revolution. Guides will walk you through both houses, sharing stories of the families who lived in the homes and highlighting the fully furnished rooms. Guides will also explain why both families held onto their loyalist ties, some to their detriment and how others managed to play both sides.

All tours start at 50 Mechanic St., Portsmouth - the Wentworth-Gardner House and will end at the Warner House at 150 Daniel St.

While researching 18th century Black communities and their own elected kings or governors in Portsmouth and coastal New England, UNH PhD candidate Erica McAvoy noticed that often scholars cited problematic 19th century accounts by White antiquarians instead of the primary sources available.  These primary sources  give us limited but important details. Therefore, she has begun examining the existing primary sources more carefully and hopes to separate myth from reality. In this lecture Erica will discuss why Black Elections were important in New England, why nineteenth century antiquarians wrote about them the way they did, and what the primary sources tell us about the reality of Black Elections. 

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 6:30pm in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Talk begins at 7pm. Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  *Please note this is an evening talk.

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

The brother-in-law of Governor John Wentworth, Fisher was at the heart of the colony's royal establishment in the years before the American Revolution and was then banished by New Hampshire's Proscription Act in 1778. After the war, in a baffling and improbable set of events, he was recognized by both the Crown and New Hampshire as he worked to restore his property and his rights. Portsmouth Athenaeum Keeper and Executive Direction, Tom Haridman will share the fascinating story of John Fisher at our next History & Soup.

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 11:30am in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

Using a variety of relevant period eye-witness accounts and "insider" frontier expert sources, along with original objects and other images, scholar and living history expert, Ken Hamilton, will highlight colonial era (ca. 1600 -1780) Woodland Indian warfare and traditions throughout the Eastern Woodland and Great Lakes regions at our next History & Soup Talk on April 15.  Pulling from his own research and living history experiences, he will share a number of fascinating (but little known today) customs, taboos, and weapons of the Eastern Woodlands and Great Lakes.

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 11:30am in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

Join us for a special night to view and discuss selected excerpts from the PBS documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION on Sat., 1/10 at 2pm.

The screener will showcase art, music, and literature from the Revolutionary Era, offering a lens into the voices and visions of 1776. The event will last about an hour, with a 40 minute version of the film followed by a discussion with the audience. Seating is limited, reserving your seat is highly recommended. The event will take place in our carriage house, accessible via Chapel Street. Pay-as-you-can donations are gratefully accepted in lieu of a ticket price.

Join us on December 15th from 4-9pm at the Oven in Epping to enjoy great food and company! 20% of food sales (dine in and take out) will go to the Warner House!

Sold Out! Why Were the Warner House Murals Painted: this 200 year-old Mystery Has Now Been Solved

The Murals at the Warner House are considered the most outstanding feature of the House. For the past 200 years or so, no one has known why Captain Archibald Macpheadris had this very eclectic group of murals painted. After 3 years reviewing hundreds of books, journal articles and numerous primary sources, Dave Pepson (tour guide and researcher at the Warner House) has unlocked the secret.

The Murals are linked to some very interesting history that includes the Dutch Golden Age of Art; the first of the Williamite Wars (the Siege of Derry); and the Queen Anne War. The lecture will connect this history to the Murals, and will end with the Unifying Theme of all the Murals: a Woman Spinning Flax; a Dog Barking at an Eagle with a Chicken in its Talons; Abraham and Isaac; the Mohawk Chiefs; and King William III.

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 5:00pm in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

Please join us for a special fundraising event and re-dedication ceremony to celebrate the Warner House Cupola on Sunday, October 19th. This unique garden party will feature a fancy brunch and cocktails, lawn games, musical entertainment, immersive experiences, private tours, and more. Modern garden party attire is recommended (historical outfits and hats are welcome!) We ask that you kindly choose footwear with flat heels for your comfort and safety, to protect the grounds, and preserve the house’s original floors.

Additional details can be found on the Over the Top webpage. Tickets can be purchased here.

Corporate sponsorships are also available! Please check back for a link to purchase tickets or email manager@warnerhouse.org with any questions about the event or sponsorship. If you are unable to attend, but still want to support the cupola project, click here to learn more.

Throughout the eighteenth century and into the early nineteenth century, the Congregational Church was the established church in New Hampshire. In Portsmouth, North Church was one of the early congregations, established in the 1640s. Many of the well-known names in the city are found in its records: Sherburne, Wentworth, Moffatt, and Warner to name a few. It was an institution that was established and operated by the White majority, but many from the city's vibrant Black community also sat in its pews. Erica McAvoy will discuss her research on North Church and the Congregational Church more broadly, and will share how it served as a tool for resistance for Black congregants against a backdrop of oppression. 

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 5:00pm in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

In 1779, 20 enslaved Black men wrote and signed their names to a Petition of Freedom, which they submitted to the NH Legislature, asking for their freedom.  It was immediately tabled and the following year published in in the local paper for "the amusement of its readers."  Who were these 20 brave men, including two who were enslaved by Jonathan Warner - Peter and Cato - who put their lives on the line by signing their names to this incredible document?  Dr. Barbara Ward, who is the Senior Grant Writer/Special Projects at the Black Heritage Trail of NH, has spent decades studying these men and sharing their stories with adults and students, helping them to better understand the significance of this document and the act these men made to secure their freedom. 

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 5:00pm in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

Partners Robert Chase and Richard Candee met in graduate school and ended up fighting urban renewal in Portsmouth during the 1960s and 1970s, building illustrious careers, and today are among the "deans" of the early preservation movement in New Hampshire.  Dr. Candee will give a talk on his nearly 6 decade career saving and studying houses, both great and small, in Portsmouth during our History & Soup Talk on Aug 6.

Tickets: $10 for non-members, free for members. Sign up for a membership and come to all talks for free!  

Doors open & soup served at 5:00pm in the Carriage House (accessible via Chapel St.) Reservations recommended as we have limited seating.  

Please email at manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to reserve your spot.

Everywhere in New England, we see the stone walls winding through the forests, and the silent cellar holes, carefully lined with stones, and now filled with living trees. How did the early farmers make these walls, and why? Portsmouth resident, Sylvia Olson, will share about the techniques of quarrying stone from ledge and boulder, and the immense age and amazing geology of the New Hampshire seacoast region.

This talk will be at the Warner House Carriage House with soup served at 5:00 and the talk starting at 5:30. Tickets are $10 for non-members and FREE for Members. Seats are limited, so sign-up early. Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call 603-436-5909.

For the last three years, Dave Pepson has been researching near and far (and most recently Het Loo Palace near Amsterdam) to discover why Archibald Macpheadris chose the scenes for the Warner House Murals. He has previously lectured on two of the murals: the Mohawk Chiefs and King William III.

Based on his latest research, he now believes he knows why Macpheadris chose the murals on the lower staircase: a Woman Spinning Flax, a Dog Barking at an Eagle with a Chicken in its Talons; the Sacrifice of Abraham - and why are the Birds in the Murals?

This talk starts with Dutch Art, goes on to the Het Loo Palace near Amsterdam, adds some interesting stories from Ulster (Northern Ireland)  - and ends with the unifying theme of all the Murals.

This talk will be at the Warner House Carriage House with soup served at 5:00 and the talk starting at 5:30. Tickets are $10 for non-members and FREE for Members. Seats are limited, so sign-up early. Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call 603-436-5909.

What we wear - and don't wear - conveys who we are and what we stand for. The same was true more than 250 years ago as American colonists were gearing up for Revolution. Dr. Kimberly Alexander, adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire, will share how our colonial counterparts used their clothing to demonstrate their political and moral beliefs. Dr. Alexander will have historic clothing on display and will highlight items from our own Warner House collection.

Dr. Kimberly Alexander is on the faculty of the History Department at the University of New Hampshire, where she is Director of Museum Studies and Senior Lecturer and the recipient of a Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award (2021). Alexander is currently a James Hayes Fellow for 2023-2025, serving as the Project Director for the UNH Flax-to-Linen project, awarded by the UNH Center for the Humanities. She has held curatorial positions at several New England Museums, including the MIT Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum and Strawbery Banke. Her most recent books are Treasures Afoot: Shoe Stories from the Georgian Era (2018, Johns Hopkins University Press) which won an Honor Award from Historic New England in 2019, and Fashioning the New England Family (2021, Massachusetts Historical Society).

All talks will start at noon with soup available at 11:30. Tickets are $10 each for non-members, or Warner House members are FREE. Join today to come for free! To purchase a ticket as a non-member, visit our PayPal to donate, choose Other, and pay $10.

Seats are limited so please RSVP to ensure you have a spot.  Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to RSVP. Cash or card accepted, but cash is preferred.

At the time the Warner House was built about 1716-18, wealthy consumers in colonial America could choose from an impressive array of household goods in the latest style, both imported and made by local artisans in Portsmouth, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.  In his talk, Gerry Ward will examine the characteristics of this international style and discuss some of the silver and furniture masterpieces available in Portsmouth.  Cumulatively, these works of art represent the transition, as it is often stated, from Puritan to Yankee as the 18th-century progressed and as the magnificent Warner House foreshadowed. 

All talks will start at noon with soup available at 11:30.  Tickets are $10 each for non-members, or Warner House members are FREE. Join today to come for free! To purchase a ticket as a non-member, visit our PayPal to donate, choose Other, and pay $10.

Seats are limited so please RSVP to ensure you have a spot.  Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to RSVP. Cash or card accepted, but cash is preferred.

In this lecture by Peter Cook, learn about how early families in the greater Seacoast area cultivated the rocky land for farming to not only sustain themselves and their livelihoods, but also their community’s chance of survival and eventual success.

All talks will start at noon with soup available at 11:30.  Tickets are $10 each for non-members, or Warner House members are FREE. Join today to come for free! To purchase a ticket as a non-member, visit our PayPal to donate, choose Other, and pay $10.

Seats are limited so please RSVP to ensure you have a spot.  Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to RSVP. Cash or card accepted, but cash is preferred.

In order to be compliant with NH law, the Warner House Association needs to update our by-laws to include key documents and requirements for non-profit organizations. We’ll host a special virtual meeting before our regular board meeting on February 20, 2025 at 6pm in order to vote on the new by-laws.  All Warner House Members are invited to join to review the changes and cast their vote.  To view the documents that are up for approval, please click on the buttons below to download the documents.  Please email info@warnerhouse.org for the documents to review and for the Zoom link.

Archibald Macpheadris was a wealthy sea merchant who built the Warner House mansion (c. 1716) at 150 Daniel Street in Portsmouth.  Very little has ever been known about the early days of Macpheadris.  From a diary written in 1689 at the Siege of Derry, we can now talk about Archibald Macpheadris as a young boy in Northern Ireland. You will certainly find this to be an amazing story -- an almost unbelievable story!  This lecture will follow Macpheadris from Northern Ireland to Boston -- and finally to Portsmouth.  Also included in this lecture are some recently discovered stories from merchants and others related to the character and business acumen of Captain Macpheadris.

Two soups will be served: Salted Cod and Madeira Stew and Ulster Vegetable Soup (vegetarian).

All talks will start at noon with soup available at 11:30.  Tickets are $10 each for non-members, or Warner House members are FREE. Join today to come for free! To purchase a ticket as a non-member, visit our PayPal to donate, choose Other, and pay $10.

Seats are limited so please RSVP to ensure you have a spot.  Email manager@warnerhouse.org or call (603) 436-5909 to RSVP. Cash or card accepted, but cash is preferred.

All members of the Warner House Association are invited to attend in person or via Zoom for our 2025 annual meeting on Thursday, January 16 at 6pm in the Carriage House. The address is 150 Daniel Street in Portsmouth.  The Carriage House is located behind the Warner House, with access from Chapel Street.

The meeting will last about 60 minutes. Please bring your ideas or concerns for the upcoming season - we're excited to share our accomplishments from 2024 and to look forward to an exciting 2025.

We hope that you can join us in-person but with many respiratory illnesses going around, not to mention life in general, we know it can be difficult. If you'd rather to join us via Zoom, email info@warnerhouse.org.