Pierce Manse
The Pierce Manse, in Concord, NH, is the home most closely associated with Franklin Pierce during his adult life.
Built in 1838, this was the house Pierce returned to after his years in Washington. It was here that he lived before, during, and after his presidency, a place that remained constant through both his rise and the challenges that defined his time in office.
Unlike the homes of some presidents that reflect grandeur, the Pierce Manse feels personal. Set within the quiet surroundings of Concord, the house reflects his private life, removed from the intensity of national politics.
This is also where the weight of his personal life is most felt. After the tragic death of his only surviving son just before his inauguration, Pierce and his wife returned here following his presidency, carrying that loss with them. The home became a place of retreat.
Pierce’s presidency unfolded during one of the most difficult periods in American history, as tensions over slavery deepened. The decisions made during those years would have lasting consequences, and the man who made them returned to this house to live out the remainder of his life.
The Pierce Manse does not celebrate power, but reveals the human side of it, where a president returned not to be remembered, but simply to life.
Read More From Nancy
Robert Frost Homestead
By the time Robert Frost arrived in Derry, New Hampshire, in the fall of 1900, he was thirty-six years old, married to his college sweetheart Elinor, and searching for a life that would allow him to write while providing for his growing family. His grandfather purchased this thirty-acre farm, believing that the rhythm of farming […]
John Hay’s Estate
Marty and I will often head out for a day simply to explore a new town, an old house, or a place we have never visited before. One of those trips into New Hampshire led us to The Fells, the beautiful summer estate of John Hay overlooking Lake Sunapee in Newbury. John Milton Hay had […]
