Hamilton House

Shipping merchant Jonathan Hamilton built this striking Georgian mansion c. 1785. Its picturesque situation on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River made it an ideal location for Hamilton’s shipping business and, more than a hundred years later, for the summer retreat of Emily Tyson and her stepdaughter Elise.

Today, Hamilton House reflects the occupancy of the Tysons in the early twentieth century and is recognized as one of the region's quintessential Colonial Revival-style country estates. The house features two whimsical murals commissioned by the women as well as antique furnishings and handcrafted decorative arts they collected. The elaborate perennial garden, with its charming garden cottage, provides visitors with a place to stroll and picnic overlooking the river.

Open
Wednesday - Sunday, June 1 – October 15
11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Tours on the hour. Last tour at 4:00 p.m.
Closed July 4

The Hamilton House is a Historic New England property.

 

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Top photo: Hamilton House exterior - Hamilton House was built by Colonel Jonathan Hamilton, a wealthy shipbuilder and West Indies merchant, between 1785 and 1787. At that time, the Salmon Falls River was busy with traffic transporting goods and people between South Berwick and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about 12 miles downstream. When Hamilton purchased the Hamilton House property in 1783, there were already docks, warehouses, and a shipyard on the site.

Bottom photo: Parlor - Across the hall and opposite the dining room is the large reception room. Elegant arches with elaborately carved keystones and fluted pilasters flank the fireplace. This room also features a mural by George Porter Fernald. This mural is based in part on the French scenic wallpaper Les Monuments de Paris and it depicts many important Colonial and Federal-era buildings of the Piscataqua region.