Perkins Manor is a historic building in

Contoocook, New Hampshire Contoocook () is a village and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Hopkinton in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,427 at the 2020 census. Contoocook is well known for its growth of small businesses ...

. It is the birthplace of

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

George H. Perkins and later served as one of several homes of his daughter

Isabel Weld Perkins Isabel Anderson (March 29, 1876 – November 3, 1948), , was a Boston heiress, author, and society hostess who left a legacy to the public that includes a park and two museums. Life Early life Born at 284 Marlborough Street in Boston's B ...

and her husband

Larz Anderson Larz Anderson (August 15, 1866 – April 13, 1937) was an American diplomat and ''bon vivant''. He served as second secretary at the United States Legation to the Court of St James's, London; as first secretary and later '' chargé d'affai ...

. One 19th century commentator described the approach to the house thus:

"In passing up the
Concord and Claremont Railroad The Concord and Claremont Railroad was an American railroad company during the mid-nineteenth century in New Hampshire spanning from Concord to Claremont. History Chartered on June 24, 1848, the Concord and Claremont Railroad was established and ...
from
Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
, the observant traveler has doubtless noticed the substantial and comfortable-looking homestead with large and trim front yard, shaded by thickly planted and generous topped maples, on the right-hand side of the road after crossing the bridge that spans 'Contoocook's bright and brimming river' at the pleasant-looking village of Contoocookville in the northern part of Hopkinton."The Bay State Monthly, April, 1884
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History

In 1825, Roger Eliot Perkins came from the vicinity of

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

and built Perkins Manor on land purchased from the

Algonquians The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups. Historically, the peoples were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and into the interior along the Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. T ...

. His property passed to his son, Hamilton Eliot Perkins, a counselor-at-law and member of the Merrimack County bar. This Perkins built profitable mills at Contoocookville (now called Contoocook) on the

Contoocook River The Contoocook River () is a river in New Hampshire. It flows from Contoocook Lake on the Jaffrey/ Rindge border to Penacook (just north of Concord), where it empties into the Merrimack River. It is one of only a few rivers in New Hampshire that ...

. Hamilton Eliot Perkins married Clara Bartlett George. Their son George Hamilton Perkins (the future commodore) was born here in 1835. When he was eight years old, the family moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Here Hamilton Eliot Perkins invested his means in shipping, including trade with

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

. After her father's death Isabel Anderson purchased the house from her father's estate -- he left the bulk of his estate to a nephew rather than to his wife or daughter -- and opened it to the public for a few summers. Visitors entered to the sight of an elaborate, crystal

chandelier A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...

. The stairs were carpeted with bright red, thick

carpeting Fitted carpet, also wall-to-wall carpet, is a carpet intended to cover a floor entirely. Carpet over 4 meters in length is usually installed with the use of a power-stretcher (tubed or tubeless). Fitted carpets were originally woven to the dimen ...

. On each side of the hall was a formal

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...

. One parlor was lavishly decorated in red

velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

with beautiful antique

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

. The other parlor was done in blue velvet.Doris Coen Currier
From the blue parlor was a large dining room furnished with

antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

. There were swinging glass doors from the dining room to a

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

's pantry. The kitchen was very large with many shelves, a large cupboard and a large

pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, and sometimes dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...

. Upstairs there was a spacious hall. From it were four equally spacious bedrooms, each one elegantly furnished. Isabel Anderson occasionally stayed in the house, but preferred her own small, rustic summer camp in a rural area of southern New Hampshire that she used as a writing retreat and for visits with her relatives.

Today

Perkins Manor is now an

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

house consisting of eight residential units. It is the largest residential building in Contoocook.NH Resource Guide
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Bibliography

* Anderson, Larz: ''Letters and Journals of a Diplomat'', New York, 1940. * Anderson, Isabel ''Under the Black Horse Flag'', Boston, 1926 * Moskey, Stephen T: ''Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age,'' (iUniverse 2016) .

References

Houses in Merrimack County, New Hampshire Houses completed in 1825 Hopkinton, New Hampshire {{NewHampshire-struct-stub