Overlooking the Piscataqua River’s back channel at Little Harbor sits one of Portsmouth’s hidden gems, the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion. Home of New Hampshire’s first Royal Governor, Benning Wentworth. The rambling forty-plus-room mansion represents one of only two colonial governor’s residences to have survived essentially unchanged since its original construction. Over its long history, the Little Harbor estate has served as a working farm, seat of government, summer home and artist retreat. From its unique architecture to the elegant gardens and historic lilacs that once graced its grounds, the mansion has faithfully reflected the eclectic tastes of three centuries of owners.
For ten years John Rule served as tour guide at the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion. He has lectured on the history of colonial governor Benning Wentworth’s land grants and participated in a public panel discussing interesting and little-known facts about the Wentworth mansion. Rule is also a volunteer archivist at the New Hampshire Historical Society where he has lectured and written about the history of New Hampshire’s Brown Paper Company.
Adi Rule was a guide at the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion for a decade and still wonders if she’s seen all of it. In addition to guiding, she facilitated and organized events, including moderating the panel “Secrets of the Mansion.” Previously, she was an interpreter at Strawbery Banke Museum. Adi is a writer and editor, and teaches fiction at the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program at Lasell University in Newton MA.
For the 2025 Lecture Series “Beauty on the Seacoast and Beyond: Art, Architecture and Gardens,” each program begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Shaw Research Library (unless otherwise noted). Reservations for each program are required as seating is limited. If unable to keep a reservation, please call again to release the seat for someone else. Attendance at programs is free for Athenaeum Proprietors, Subscribers and Friends. Guests and members of the public are welcome to attend the entire series by becoming a Friend of the Athenaeum for as little as $25 per year, payable at the door. Admission to an individual program is $15.
