Portsmouth's Jackson House Wins Preservation Award

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Historic New England was one of 11 winners of the annual Preservation Achievement Awards for its restoration and stewardship of the 1664 Jackson House in Portsmouth. The award was given out by the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance on Tuesday.

The Jackson House is the oldest surviving wood-frame house in New Hampshire and a A National Historic Landmark. It was built by Richard Jackson, a woodworker, farmer, and mariner in Portsmouth.

Historic New England’s founder, William Sumner Appleton, acquired the house in 1924 from a member of the seventh generation of Jacksons to live there. Despite pressure to remove post-seventeenth century additions, Appleton limited his restoration to stripping off twentieth-century lath and plaster and replacing eighteenth-century sash with diamond-paned casements where evidence of the original fenestration was too compelling to ignore.

Other winners announced Tuesday include:

• Ashland Historical Society for the rescue of the c. 1800 Reuben Whitten House. Whitten is credited with helping feed townspeople in 1816, known as the year without a summer. This was largely a volunteer effort.
• Town of Freedom for the restoration of the Freedom Roller Shed. Strong local effort for a “rare building type” that used to house snow roller and other equipment.
• N.H. Department of Transportation for stewardship of the 1817 New Ipswich High Bridge and compatible new construction. New steel span above oldest and tallest stone arched bridge in New Hampshire in the historic mill village.
• A project to turn Concord’s Sacred Heart Church into 10 high-end condominiums
• Town of Littleton for stewardship of the Littleton Community Center. Major commitment to an 1884 landmark that had been on the “Seven to Save” list of endangered properties.

Courtesy Photo / New Hampshire Preservation Alliance