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Support the Rehabilitation of the Bickford-Chesley House
About the Bickford-Chesley House at Wagon Hill Farm
On land farmed seasonally for centuries by the Abenaki, this site was one of many around the Piscataqua estuary to be settled by Englishmen in the 17th century. It remained in consistent agricultural use for nearly 300 years.
The Bickford-Chesley House and expansive landscape exemplify the agricultural history of New Hampshire mixed agriculture on the family farm, including salt marsh farming, orchards and cider production, river transportation and commerce, farming for urban markets, dairy and poultry farming, and boarding house tourism.
The 1804 Federal-style farmhouse retains much of its original exterior and interior woodwork, including the original skived clapboards (ends overlapped for waterproof seal), mantlepieces, and doors. The house faced the First NH Turnpike 1800-1803, an important connection of the Seacoast to the growing interior of the State, now US Route 4.
The house was built in 1804 by John Bickford (1765-1813), a sea captain and resident of Salem, Massachusetts, who owned several New Hampshire farms managed by tenant farmers. Following Bickford’s death in 1813 in Uruguay, several generations of the Chesley family managed a diverse farming operation until the mid-20th century. The Town of Durham purchased the property from the Tirrell Family in 1989.
Your gift will help preserve Durham’s Heritage!
Over time the property has deteriorated, and we are now working to rehabilitate the house. Once complete, the Bickford-Chesley House will have a meeting room and changing exhibit gallery on the first floor; an apartment on the second floor; and a warming kitchen and restrooms in the ell.
Preservation of this building includes:
- Needed foundation repairs
- Window replacement
- Interior rehabilitation
- Exterior painting
- Restoration of the porch
- Exhibit cases, lighting, floor covering, and text panels
Funds generated through the Wagon Hill Farm Heritage Expendable Trust help supplement Town of Durham funding to fulfill ongoing preservation and interpretation needs of the 139-acre Wagon Hill Farm historic landscape, as well as the Bickford-Chesley House, the historic connecting ell, the Bickford Chesley House Gallery, and the new barn.
Thank you!
Scan the QR code to make a donation, or you can mail a check payable to: The Wagon Hill Farm Heritage Expendable Trust to Durham Town Hall, 8 Newmarket Road, Durham, NH 03824.
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