Windows Make a Statement at Moffatt-Ladd House

PORTSMOUTH — A unique "window on the past" will greet people walking and driving past the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden on Market Street this holiday season.

As windows are removed from the historic mansion for restoration, temporary fillers are being created that feature silhouettes of historical figures.

The museum has been restoring the building's windows since 2011. While the windows are out being repaired by Jade Mortimer of Heartwood Window Restoration in Hawley, Mass., specialists from Preservation Timber Framing of Berwick, Maine, have repaired clapboards and trim and painted the house. The museum is now preparing for the removal of the windows facing Market Street.

"We have to board up the window openings while the windows are out being restored, and we realized that this gave us a unique opportunity to decorate the house in a special way," said Barbara Ward, director/curator of the Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden. "We had a lot of fun creating the panels, and we hope that the public will enjoy the results."

David Ford, a specialist from Preservation Timber Framing, volunteered for the project. Along with volunteers from the New Hampshire Colonial Dames, which owns and operates the house, and volunteers from the museum's seasonal staff, Ford helped create and draw silhouettes for many of the windows. The silhouettes are inspired by historical figures who lived in the house. Information will be available in the brochure holder outside the house for those who want to know more about the ideas behind the decorations.

"Everyone really got into the act," Ford said, "and what you will see, as the panels go in, is the result of a lot of hours from nearly 20 volunteers who added their ideas and gave their time to the project."

The windows on the west and north façades facing the Moffatt-Ladd garden were finished this summer and fall. Following paint evidence of the original treatment, the restored sashes are painted black, so the replacement panels accurately simulate the effect of the finished windows. The south façade sash will go back into place over the next couple of months and the Market Street façade will be completed by early next summer.

The work has been made possible through dozens of private donors and two major grants, one from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program and one from the Conservation Project Support fund of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency.

The Moffatt-Ladd House and Garden, located at 154 Market St., is a National Historic Landmark that has been open to the public as an historic house museum since 1912. It is considered to be one of America's finest Georgian mansions. The site is open daily for guided tours from early June through mid-October. For information, visit