Moses-Kent House
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The Moses-Kent House is a historic house at 1 Pine Street in
Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
. Built in 1868 for a prominent local merchant, it is one of the town's finest examples of Victorian residential architecture. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on September 12, 1985.


Description and history

The Moses-Kent House stands southwest of the town center of Exeter, at the southwest junction of Linden and Pine Streets. It occupies a large lot, more than in size, of which about are landscaped. The main house is a -story wood-frame structure, with a
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
, granite foundation, and an exterior finished in wooden siding scored to resemble
ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
stone. It is predominantly Second Empire in its styling, with strong Italianate influence. Its most prominent feature is a three-story tower with mansard roof and windows whose molded surrounds match those of the main mansard roof. The property includes a surviving 1868 carriage house. The interior of the house is well-preserved, retaining features from its construction, and from a later early 20th-century renovation. The house was built in 1868 by Henry Clay Moses, a local wool merchant, who purchased two lots and demolished the buildings standing on them to make way for it. Moses hired architect
Rufus Sargent Rufus Sargent (1812-1886) was an American architect practicing in Newburyport, Massachusetts during the nineteenth century. Life and career Rufus Sargent was born January 7, 1812, in Amesbury, Massachusetts to Nicholas Sargent and Sally (Currie ...
of
Newburyport, Massachusetts Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...
to design the house, and landscape architect
Robert Morris Copeland Robert Morris Copeland, Sr. (December 11, 1830 – March 28, 1874) was a landscape architecture, landscape architect, city planning, town planner and Union Army officer in the American Civil War. Along with his partner H.W.S. Cleveland of the firm ...
was hired to lay out the grounds.Carol Walker Aten,
Postcards from Exeter
' (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2003): 139. Moses was known locally for his philanthropy, and opened portions of the property to the public as a park. It underwent significant alterations c. 1901-02 after it was purchased by George Kent, owner of the Exeter Manufacturing Company. The landscaping of its grounds are conjectured without evidence to have been influenced (directly or indirectly) by the work of
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, Ne ...


References

{{NRHP in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Exeter, New Hampshire Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Second Empire architecture in New Hampshire Italianate architecture in New Hampshire Houses completed in 1868 Houses in Rockingham County, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, New Hampshire Buildings with mansard roofs