Two House Tour
Join us on the Two House Tour, which begins the first Thursday in June at 1pm then runs every first and third Thursday through mid-October. Starting with a tour of the Wentworth-Gardner House, followed by a walk along the waterfront, through Prescott Park and on to a tour of the Warner House. This approximately 90 minute tour is guided by Jeff Thomson, a retired teacher of American history with many years of Portsmouth guiding. Students accompanied by a paying adult may attend free-of-charge. Please arrive 15 minutes early to allow for a prompt start. Cost: $20.
Wentworth-Gardner House
The Wentworth-Gardner house represents one of the finest examples of high Georgian architecture in America. Constructed in 1760 as a wedding gift from Mark Hunking Wentworth and his wife Elizabeth to their son Thomas, it is substantially unchanged both inside and out from its appearance
263 years ago.Visitors to the house gain an understanding of the way in which wealthy families lived in Colonial Portsmouth. In the kitchen, for instance, the very wide fireplace features a rare smoke jack (a kind of rotisserie actuated by rising hot air from below). The treads of the narrow stairs leading up to servants’ quarters are deeply worn, giving evidence of extensive use over many decades.
Prescott Park
Prescott Park is a ten-plus acre waterfront park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. The land was purchased in the 1930s by two sisters, Josie and Sarah Prescott. The sisters, public school teachers,[1] had used an inheritance to systematically purchase and clear properties along the Piscataqua River. The sisters' goal was to create a public waterfront park, free and accessible to all, replacing what had become a run-down and seedy industrial area. In 1949 the Prescott sisters' trust was established with $500,000.[citation needed] The park was willed to the city of Portsmouth in 1954 for public enjoyment.