Historic New England's Langdon House

Historic New England's Langdon House Langdon House is open for our guided tours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, from June through October. Visit www.HistoricNewEngland.org for more details.

The Gov. John Langdon House is one of thirty-eight properties owned by Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. We save and share historic homes, open space, collections, and stories from the past to today. Learn more at www.HistoricNewEngland.org. The Governor John Langdon House is an exceptional Georgian mansion which George Washington “esteemed

the first” in Portsmouth. Its reception rooms are of a grand scale suited to ceremonial occasions and are ornamented by elaborate wood carving in the Rococo style. John Langdon was a merchant, shipbuilder, Revolutionary War leader, signer of the United States Constitution, and three-term governor of New Hampshire. He built this impressive home to express his status as Portsmouth's leading citizen. The house was also home of the black freedman Cyrus Bruce, a paid servant who was well known around Portsmouth. The Langdons were also connected to Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped from George and Martha Washington, and lived in the area. After Langdon's death in 1819, the house was occupied by other leading families, and at the end of the nineteenth century, Langdon descendants purchased the house and restored it to its eighteenth-century appearance. They added onto the rear of the house a substantial wing designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White to house modern necessities. Visitors to the house learn about the history of Portsmouth through the life of John Langdon and others who lived here. The house tells the story of the early colony of New Hampshire, the glory days of the city’s mercantile boom, and the Colonial Revival movement that blossomed in Portsmouth during the early twentieth century.

05/27/2026

At Sayward-Wheeler House in Maine, our Property Care team has made clever alterations to a porch to make it more climat-resilient.

Performance, creativity, and conversation return to Langdon House this season—and Melissa Kershaw is helping shape it al...
05/26/2026

Performance, creativity, and conversation return to Langdon House this season—and Melissa Kershaw is helping shape it all.

As part of Historic New England’s Meet Your Site Managers series leading up to Open House on June 6, meet Melissa, Regional Site Administrator for Northern New England, and learn more about the new performance art salon series coming to Langdon House this year.

Meet Melissa → https://www.historicnewengland.org/meet-your-site-manager-melissa-kershaw/

As we prepare to welcome visitors to for the open season, we invite you to get to know the people who make our tours and events so special.

05/03/2026

Ben Haavik stewards 150+ historic structures across five states, guiding preservation, accessibility, and climate resilience efforts.

We are excited to open the doors and welcome friends, members, and newcomers to all Historic New England sites on Saturd...
04/28/2026

We are excited to open the doors and welcome friends, members, and newcomers to all Historic New England sites on Saturday, June 6. Join us for free visits to our houses, farms, and meeting house!

On Saturday, June 6, 2026, our historic sites across the region are open and FREE to the public. Join us for a fun day of fantastic storytelling! Love architecture, history, fantastic stories, great landscapes, fine art, folk art, or interior design? Then join Historic New England on June 6, 2026, f...

Portsmouth Historic Sites Associates annual symposium Life and Death in the Piscataqua is not to be missed! Tickets are ...
02/05/2026

Portsmouth Historic Sites Associates annual symposium Life and Death in the Piscataqua is not to be missed! Tickets are available now.

Portsmouth NH Historic Sites Associates' Winter Symposium in today's Portsmouth Herald! Also at the Seacoastonline.com link in the comments.

02/05/2026

Black History Month was established by Carter G. Woodson in 19026 to honors the achievements, culture, and contributions of Black Americans.

01/24/2026

Due to the weather forecast for this Sunday, January 25, the Wintersounds concert with Max Ridley and Zoe Rose DePaz has been cancelled. If you already purchased tickets, you will receive a refund. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please stay safe and warm!

12/19/2025

When a young guide was sent to accompany Ati Gropius around the museum that was once her childhood home, he never imagined what would happen.

12/19/2025

At the turn of the twentieth century, Jewish immigrants and migrants arrived in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to work in the shoe in industry.

12/11/2025
12/11/2025

Gilman Garrison House in Exeter, New Hampshire, was home to women entrepreneurs for more than a century—including two hatmakers.

Address

143 Pleasant Street
Portsmouth, NH
03801

Telephone

+16034363205

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