The Dinsmoor–Hale House is a historic house at the southwest corner of Main and Winchester Streets in

Keene, New Hampshire Keene is a city in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 23,047 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 23,409 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat and the only city in ...

. It was built in 1860 for Samuel Dinsmoor, Jr., a lawyer and former

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along w ...

, and was later owned by Governor Samuel W. Hale, who made lavish alterations to its interior. It was acquired by what is now

Keene State College Keene State College is a Public college, public Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is part of the University System of New Hampshire. Founded in 1909 as a teacher's college (originally, Ke ...

in 1909. It now houses the office of the college president. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976.

Description and history

The Dinsmoor–Hale House is located south of downtown Keene, at the southwest corner of Main and Winchester Streets on the campus of

. It is a three-story brick building, roughly square in plan, with a stuccoed exterior and a low-pitch hip roof. There is a slight projection on the south facade, where there is a stairwell, and on the main facade, where a semicircular bay rises the full three stories and is capped by a low rounded roof. The center entry is recessed from the main facade, with a recessed porch above, which is capped by a small gable. The house was built in 1860 for Samuel Dinsmoor Jr., a prominent local lawyer and bank president who served three terms as

in the 1850s. To design the house, Dinsmoor hired

Elbridge Boyden Elbridge Boyden (1810–1898) was a prominent 19th-century American architect from Worcester, Massachusetts, who designed numerous civil and public buildings throughout New England and other parts of the United States. Perhaps his best known work ...

, a noted

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

architect."Elbridge Boyden," ''Light'' 3, no. 5 (April 4, 1891): 102-103. The house was reported at the time of its construction to be one of the finest in Cheshire County. Samuel W. Hale, a subsequent owner, gave the house grounds and interior a lavish upgrade, and also served as Governor in the 1880s. The house was given to the city in 1909, which in turn gave it to the state for use as part of a normal school, now Keene State College.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinsmoor-Hale House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Italianate architecture in New Hampshire Houses completed in 1860 Houses in Cheshire County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Keene, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Cheshire County, New Hampshire Keene State College

Description and history

See also

References