Shapley Town House
About this property
The Shapley Town House, also known as the Reuben Shapley House, is a historic house at 454-456 Court Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built about 1815, it is unusual in the city as a particularly well-preserved example of a Federal period double house. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is owned by the Strawbery Banke Foundation. The Shapley House is located southeast of downtown Portsmouth, on the south side of Court Street between Atkinson and Marcy streets. It is a three-story structure, built with load-bearing brick walls. Its front facade is six bays wide, with a symmetrical arrangement that has entrances in the two center bays, topped by semi-elliptical fanlights. Windows are six-over-six sash on the lower two floors, and three-over-three on the third. The roof cornice exhibits shallow brick corbelling. The "best" rooms of the interior feature delicate Federal period wainscoting, and have mantelpieces supported by six engaged columns. The house was built c. 1815 by Captain Reuben Shapley, a ship's captain and merchant. Although it was one of a number of brick buildings built in the wake of an 1813 fire that devastated Portsmouth's downtown area, its construction as a double house is distinctive. From the outside it looks like a single-family residence except for its two entrances, an apparently deliberate decision. The halves of the house are separated by a brick firewall extending the full depth and height of the house. Window sills and other trim on one side are in marble, while these elements on the other side are of wood. It is one of the city's best-preserved Federal buildings. National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Location
Categories
Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Shapley Town House
This page lists Shapley Town House. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Shapley Town House listed on the National Register?
Shapley Town House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1973.
What type of historic resource is Shapley Town House?
Shapley Town House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Shapley Town House?
The period of significance for Shapley Town House is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Shapley Town House?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Shapley Town House will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Rockingham County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Rockingham County.
Explore RockinghamCounty ›More historic places in New Hampshire
Browse all historic places in New Hampshire.
View New Hampshirehistoric sites ›New Hampshire history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
New Hampshirehistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Shapley Town House will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.