IN THE LATE 1800?S, PORTSMOUTH?S LITTLE HARBOR BECAME A SUMMER HAVEN FOR THE CULTURAL ELITE OF BOSTON. IT WAS A TIME WHEN ?CULTURE? WAS SPELLED WITH A CAPITAL ?C?; ANYONE WHO WAS ANYONE ATTENDED HARVARD -- ALTHOUGH YALE WOULD DO IN A PINCH -- AND MIDDLE NAMES MATTERED.
THE WEALTHIEST OF THE LITTLE HARBOR SET WAS ARTHUR ASTOR CAREY, GREAT-GRANDSON OF JOHN JACOB ASTOR, WHO TRADED IN FURS AND REAL ESTATE. WHEN HE DIED IN 1848, ASTOR WAS THE RICHEST MAN IN AMERICA.
IN 1887, GREAT-GRANDSON CAREY BROKE GROUND ON A NEW SUMMER HOME IN LITTLE HARBOR. PAUL DOSCHER, HEAD OF LAND CONSERVATION FOR THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS, SAYS THE SITE WAS WELL-CHOSEN.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER oh, it?s a spectacular piece of land. With so much frontage on salt water on Sagamore Creek. With a beautiful views across to the Wentworth Hotel. /// It?s a pretty special place, because in much of the seacoast, there?s not many linear feet of shoreline that isn?t already held in private ownership and off-limits to the public. and the thought that the society could help billie make it available to the public was pretty exciting. :28
?BILLIE? WAS THE NICKNAME OF LILLIAN NOEL, WHO ALONG WITH HER LATE HUSBAND, CHET, BOUGHT THE PROPERTY FROM THE CAREY FAMILY IN 1957. THE NOELS DIVIDED THE HOUSE INTO APARTMENTS, KEEPING THE LARGEST FOR THEMSELVES. IN THE LATE 1990?S, AS SHE APPROACHED HER 90?S, BILLIE APPROACHED THE FOREST SOCIETY ABOUT OPENING THE PROPERTY TO THE PUBLIC AFTER HER DEATH. SITTING ON THE HOUSE?S FRONT PORCH, DOSCHER RECALLS THE SOCIETY?S FIRST REACTION.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER well, our initial thoughts were, yeah, it?s a great property, it?s a wonderful location, but what do we do with this house [LAUGHS] that we?re sitting in here? :07
LIKE MOST LAND CONSERVATION GROUPS, THE FOREST SOCIETY TRIES TO AVOID THE EXPENSE OF OWNING BUILDINGS. DOSCHER SAYS BILLIE UNDERSTOOD THE DIFFICULTIES OF OPENING THE PROPERTY TO THE PUBLIC AND MAINTAINING THE HOUSE AS A PRIVATE RESIDENCE. WHAT?S MORE, WHEN BILLIE LOOKED ACROSS THE WATER AT THE THEN-CRUMBLING WENTWORTH HOTEL, SHE SAW A POWERFUL EXAMPLE OF WHAT SHE DID NOT WANT TO HAPPEN TO HER HOUSE.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER And she was offended by the lack of maintenance and the lack of use and the disheveled condition of that historic monument. And said, I don?t want my place to be like that. So, if it?s necessary to keep the open space open and let the people use this property, then take my house down. :19
SINCE THAT TIME, THE WENTWORTH HAS BEEN FULLY RESTORED.
BUT IN SEPTEMBER 2001, BILLIE SOLD HER PROPERTY TO THE FOREST SOCIETY FOR HALF A MILLION DOLLARS -- A FRACTION OF ITS VALUE. UNDER THE TERMS OF THE DEED, SHE WOULD LIVE THERE UNTIL HER DEATH, AT WHICH POINT THE SOCIETY WOULD HAVE TWO YEARS TO TEAR DOWN THE HOUSE.
BUT DOSCHER SAYS EVEN BEFORE THE DEAL WAS SIGNED, THE SOCIETY WONDERED IF IT HAD MADE A MISTAKE.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER We had thought that the house did not have any major historical significance. We?d done some asking around -- I guess that?s the best way to describe it -- and been told by a couple of people that they didn?t think there was any historic significance to the house. In hindsight, that wasn?t enough information. We shouldn?t have gone on that. ///172 well we found out after we owned it -- local historians came to us and were upset that the house would have to be torn down. There was a lot of back and forth in the news media in Portsmouth. :28
USED TO BEING PORTRAYED AS THE GOOD GUYS, THE SOCIETY WAS STUNG BY THE NEGATIVE PUBLICITY.
TO THE CASUAL OBSERVER, CREEK FARM LOOKS LIKE A LARGE HOUSE THAT ISN?T TRYING TO IMPRESS. THE MAIN HOUSE FACES THE WATER. TWO WINGS ON EITHER END FORM A U-SHAPED COURTYARD ON THE INLAND SIDE. A FIELDSTONE FOUNDATION APPEARS TO GROW UP OUT OF THE ROCKY LEDGE AND TRANSFORM ITSELF INTO A SHINGLE-CLAD, TWO STORY HOUSE WITH DORMERS. STATE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN JAMES GARVIN SAYS THAT SEEMINGLY ORGANIC TRANSITION IS JUST WHAT THE ARCHITECT INTENDED.
TAPE JAMES GARVIN the building itself is an example of the shingle style. It?s a somewhat low profiled house with several chimneys protruding through the roof, gambrel roof that kind of wraps down over the building. Very broad piazzas or porches on two sides. :13
THE ARCHITECT WAS ALEXANDER WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ? A NEPHEW OF THE FAMOUS POET, AND A COLLEGE CLASSMATE OF THE OWNER. (THE COLLEGE, OF COURSE, WAS HARVARD.) LONGFELLOW WAS A LEADING NEW ENGLAND ARCHITECT, AND CREEK FARM HIS MOST AMBITIOUS PRIVATE HOME. GARVIN SAYS THE HOUSE IS NOTABLE FOR ANOTHER REASON.
TAPE JAMES GARVIN creek farm is perhaps the best preserved of the larger summer homes in the Portsmouth area or in the new Hampshire seacoast. :07
THESE SUMMER HOMES ARE THE VISIBLE REMAINS OF ONE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE?S EARLIEST EFFORTS TO RAISE REVENUE FROM OUT-OF-STATERS.
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, HUNDREDS OF PROPERTIES WERE ABANDONED AND PROPERTY TAXES PLUMMETED. LONG BEFORE STATE LAWMAKERS HIT UPON CHEAP CIGARETTES AND BOOZE, THEY SOUGHT TO ENTICE WEALTHY VISITORS TO BUY PROPERTY WITH THE PROMISE OF? GOOD HEALTH, OF ALL THINGS. AN 1890 EDITORIAL PUBLISHED IN THE ?CONCORD MONITOR? BILLED NEW HAMPSHIRE AS A PLACE OF ? QUOTE ? ?A THOUSAND SANITARIUMS? ALL OFFERING REST AND QUIET, PEACE AND HEALTH.?
THE ?SUMMER HOME MOVEMENT?, AS HISTORIANS CALL IT TODAY, CAUGHT ON, AND GAVE RISE TO ?SUMMER COLONIES.?
TAPE JAMES GARVIN in the summer home movement, people tended to flock together of like interests, or people who knew one another or had gone to college together, or who were employed in the same profession, or whatever. Particularly here in New Hampshire, we had a number of artistic colonies. :13
GARVIN SAYS ALL THE RESIDENTS OF THE LITTLE HARBOR COLONY WERE PROMINENT IN THE ARTS. LONGFELLOW, CAREY, AND CAREY?S NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR, J. TEMPLEMAN COOLIDGE, WERE FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE ?SOCIETY OF ARTS AND CRAFTS? IN BOSTON. OTHER COLONY RESIDENTS INCLUDED AMERICAN HISTORIAN FRANCIS PARKMAN, AUTHOR BARRETT WENDELL, AND THE INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN PAINTER EDMUND C. TARBELL -- THEY ALL WENT TO HARVARD, BY THE WAY ? AS WELL AS THE POET, EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.
STEDMAN WENT TO YALE. PROBABLY WHY NO ONE READS HIM ANYMORE.
GARVIN SAYS CREEK FARM IS IMPORTANT FOR A HOST OF HISTORICAL REASONS. BUT FINALLY, HE SAYS, IT DESERVES TO BE SAVED FOR ITS OWN SAKE.
TAPE JAMES GARVIN you combine good materials, good design, good engineering, with fine craftsmanship. And what you end up with is great architecture. :07
ONCE THE FOREST SOCIETY REALIZED THE EXTENT OF THE HOUSE?S HISTORIC VALUE, AND THE PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR RETAINING THE BUILDING, IT FORMED A COMMITTEE TO EXPLORE MEANS BY WHICH THE BUILDING MIGHT REMAIN ? PERHAPS AS A RESEARCH INSTITUTE, A RETREAT CENTER, OR A SEMINAR FACILITY. PAUL DOSCHER SAYS THE SOCIETY THEN WENT BACK TO BILLIE NOEL, AND ASKED IF THE TERMS OF THE DEED COULD BE CHANGED.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER So she?s basically said, okay, instead of requiring that you take the house down in two years, I?ll give you two years to find a good partner to take over this house and operate it. :11
BILLIE NOEL DIED LAST MAY. THAT?S WHEN THE TWO-YEAR CLOCK BEGAN TICKING. THE SOCIETY RECENTLY FORMED ANOTHER COMMITTEE TO SOLICIT AND SCREEN PROPOSALS FOR A NEW USE FOR THE BUILDING. THE DEADLINE IS MAY OF NEXT YEAR.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER if the partnership committee is not successful the building will come down, that?s the requirement in the deed. :06
BUT DOSCHER IS OPTIMISTIC THAT WON?T BE NECESSARY.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER we?ve heard some really good thoughts about how this building could be used. And from some people who are very practical and pragmatic about understanding what it?s going to cost. :08
MEANWHILE, DOSCHER SAYS THE SOCIETY HAS LEARNED A LOT FROM OWNING CREEK FARM. HE SAYS ACHIEVING THE TWIN GOALS OF CONSERVING LAND AND PRESERVING HISTORIC BUILDINGS ONLY SEEMS TO BE EASY.
TAPE PAUL DOSCHER But the actual details of doing that are extremely complex. And all the different people who bring different perspectives to the situation don?t always agree. And it makes it difficult to find the common ground and figure out how do you solve the problem and achieve both goals. :18
DOSCHER SAYS HE?S NOT SURE IF THE FOREST SOCIETY ? KNOWING WHAT IT KNOWS NOW ?WOULD HAVE TAKEN ON THE CHALLENGE OF PRESERVING CREEK FARM. BUT, HE ADDS, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY HARD TO WALK AWAY FROM THE CHANCE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC ACCESS TO A SPECTACULAR PIECE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE?S SEACOAST. FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I?M DOUG MACPHERSON.
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