Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion
- Also Known As: Benning Wentworth Mansion
- Address: 2 mi S of Portsmouth, off US 1A
- Hours: Seaside grounds open dawn-to-dusk daily, Mansion Tours: Summer Wednesday-Sunday, Fall: Saturdays and Sundays: 10 am, 11:40 am, 12:45 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm.
- Phone: (603) 436-6607
This rambling, roughly H-shaped frame and clapboard building was the home and official headquarters of Benning Wentworth, who in 1741 was appointed by King George II as Royal Governor of the Province of New Hampshire. Wentworth held that position for 26 years, the longest term of any of America's colonial governors. Constructed in three stages (c 1695, 1730, and 1750), the house provides an interesting example of the development of colonial architectural styles. The chimneypiece in Governor Wentworth's Council Chamber, located in the 1750 wing, is cited by some authorities as the most elaborate such structure carved in the American colonies.
The mansion remained in the Wentworth family until 1816. The last private owner, J Templeman Coolidge, acquired the building and adjacent land in 1883 as a summer residence; an artist by profession, he restored the house and made some stylistically appropriate additions to it, the latter in 1916. In 1954, Coolidge's widow donated the building, now known as the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, to the State of New Hampshire. The house has been put in excellent condition but is relatively unfurnished. Administered by the New Hampshire Division of Parks, it is open to the public daily from Memorial Day through mid-October. - NRHP, July 1975