Historic New England: Rundlet-May House

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A light blue, black, and white striped header image with the words Historic New England: Rundlet-May House.

For my third main stop on the third day of my three-day trip through the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area, I visited Rundlet-May House, a property of Historic New England (HNE) constructed in 1807. Like the Sayward-Wheeler House in nearby York, Maine, which I visited as stop two on the same day, a single family lived in the house throughout its time as a residence. The Rundlet-May House has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

Standing in the grassy green backyard of a three-story, whitewashed, clapboard federal style house with a wooden arbor extending from the back. Leafy green bushes dot the edges of the yard, while a cluster of trees peep over the side of the arbor. The sky is nearly cloudless and bright blue.  Front view of Rundlet-May House, a three-story, whitewashed, clapboard federal style house with black shutters and a Neoclassical portico. The roof of the house is seemingly flat, with a wooden railing around the edge. A black and blue sign on an ornate black metal pole. The sign reads Rundlet-May House 1807 and has the Historic New England logo on the lower right corner. View from a third story window onto the backyard of Rundlet-May House, overlooking the arbor, gardens, and an L-shaped stable. View from a second story window onto the gardens of Rundlet-May House.

First Generation

James & Jane Hill Rundlet built this Federal style mansion to house their large family. The couple had thirteen children, although only eight would reach adulthood. James made his fortune as a merchant and a textile mill owner during the early Industrial Revolution, and he dabbled in architecture. HNE historians believe he may have designed the house. As a lover of technology, the cooking stoves and heated floors installed in the house were at the forefront of innovation at the time.

Unlike many of his contemporaries whose fortunes saw a decline after the Jefferson Embargo of 1807 and the War of 1812, James signed a contract with the US government to make military uniforms in his textile mills. In this way, the Rundlets rose to prominence, overtaking the families of Jonathan Hamilton (Hamilton House of South Berwick, ME), Silas Lee (Castle Tucker of Wiscasset, ME), William & Jane Nickels (Nickels-Sortwell House of Wiscasset, ME), and Jonathan Sawyer & Mary Plummer Barrell (Sawyer-Wheeler House of York, ME). This was a make or break event for old money families in the early United States!

Additionally, James was well-connected. He was friends with John Langdon, Jr., named for his uncle Governor John Langdon (I toured his Portsmouth home on the second day of the trip), and was visited by President James Madison in 1817. James had so much money and so many friends that his descendents lived off his wealth and reputation for as long as they owned the house.

A whitewashed, wooden Colonial Revival style chair A Neoclassical ceiling medallion with no chandelier attached. A golden beaded purse about four inches in diameter hanging from a small, floral ceiling medallion instead of a chandelier A white and blue cylindrical Chinese vase on a pale blue mantel A wooden and fabric firescreen with embroidery of a red songbird perched on a branch A black, wooden, upright piano in the corner of a room with red, patterned wallpaper. Above the piano hang three landscape paintings.

Second Generation

Louisa Catherine Rundlet, the youngest child to survive until adulthood, married a short-lived merchant named George May and moved back in with her parents upon his death. She brought her twins, named James and Jane after her parents, along with plenty of pictures featuring her husband and his side of the family. The unmarried Rundlet siblings lived with Louisa and her children, including eldest siblings Harriet and Caroline, and medical doctor Edward.

A standard early 19th century brick fireplace Four firebuckets with the family name May painted on the side. A long, boxy, wooden clock hung on a wall with floral wallpaper A mantel clock shaped like a Gothic church window. A mantel clock with golden feet, face, and finial. A mantel clock similar to the last one, but with dark feet and finial.

Third and Fourth Generation

After moving to the house, the twins lived there for the rest of their lives. Jane never married, while James married a fellow lifelong Portsmouth resident, Mary Ann Morison May, who was born at the house now used as the Portsmouth Historical Society Welcome Center. The couple had one son, Ralph May, who married twice, first to divorcee Anna Decatur Wright and later to Gladys Smyth, but he had no children of his own. As historians who adored the Colonial Revival style and used the residence primarily as a summer home, Ralph and Gladys decided to give the house to HNE in 1971. The property opened for tours in 1973 ahead of the bicentennial and has been a Portsmouth attraction ever since.

A standard dining room table with six matching chairs. The boxy wall clock hangs in the corner of the room. Ornate banjo style clock with reverse glass panting on the throat and pendulum box and a gilded eagle finial A bedroom with three floral floor rugs, a canopy bed, a fireplace, several hung paintings, and walls painted sea green with white and gold trim. Close-up of the bed in the previous image. The bed is covered by a tatted white coverlet with matching canopy. A colorful quilt with a red base is folded at the foot of the bed. A window with a bright red curtain over a writing desk and to the left of the banjo style wall clock A collection of books, games, and knickknacks, on a round, black table on top of a woven rug with Mesoamerican designs Colorful tiles about an inch across, each displaying a flag of a country from the late 19th century. A beautiful tiger maple desk with round metal knobs. Beneath the desk is a tiny chair once used as a sample for chair salespeople. A canopy bed with an early 19th century Neoclassical print design in shades of red and dull pink, including peacocks, urns, and garlands.

Design and Furnishings

The house holds two hundred years of design and worldwide inspiration, including the Federal style cornices on both the inside and outside of the house, French Rococo flourishes, Neoclassical arches with the perfect symmetry of ancient Greek temples, Romanesque or Gothic style arches mimicking the churches of medieval Europe, and Colonial Revival furniture. The Rundlets were even inspired by their neighbors, as they employed carver William Deering who created the wooden embellishments at Governor John Langdon House down the road.

James Rundlet adored modern technology, so the mansion has all the bells and whistles. Cooking was done by servants using a Rumford kitchen, invented by Massachusetts-born British loyalist Sir Benjamin Thompson, also called Count Rumford of Bavaria, a title that he earned due to his work as a scientist and inventor. The kitchen included a round, iron Rumford roaster; a Rumford fireplace sending minimal smoke into the room; and a set of three fires with an accompanying pan on a Rumford range. A much later addition to the kitchen was a General Electric refrigerator.

Diagram of a Rumford Roaster, a cast iron cylindrical over with a heavy, round door and a smoke pipe from the top of the oven. A kitchen with a Rumford Roaster embedded in the wall beside the Rumford Fireplace. Over both is a mantel with a pair of white and blue delft dishes and a mantel clock in the style of a Gothic window. Close-up of the Rumford Roaster embedded in the wall. The door is open to show the depth of the unlit roaster. The three Rumford ranges in the kitchen. Three pairs of metal doors, one over the other, are embedded in the wall of a counter. The lower door is on the floor to allow wood or coal to be easily shoveled in. Another angle of the three Rumford ranges A modern industrial metal sink Hand cut tile flooring with an intricate design of red and yellow octagons interspersed with black squares. A mid 20th century white General Electric refrigerator A white wooden shelving unit built into the kitchen wall storing four rows of blue and white delft platters Oil painting of a landscape featuring Rundlet-May House A decorative metal grate embedded in the stone tiled floor leading to the heating system. A porcelain statuette of a white cat with a pink ribbon around its neck, about three or four inches tall. A state of a black panther standing on a log and roaring set on a wooden mantel. The top of a cabinet laden with trophies of varying size and a medallion hung on the wall. View of the L-shaped stables from the second story. The stable doors are in a Neoclassical style, with whitewashed wooden Doric pillars and black, wooden doors.

Conclusion

Admission to Rundlet-May House is standard HNE pricing: $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $7 for students, HNE members (like me!) are free. The house is only open on the first and third Saturdays from opening day in June to closing day on October 15. As a very important note, remember that the tours start on the half hour instead of the hour, at 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. The guide is alone in the house and might close and lock the door for safety, so be prepared to knock several times. The tour is listed at 45 minutes but takes closer to an hour, and a few stops may seem rushed. Be sure to walk through the gardens if the weather permits. The flowers were mostly past at the time of year when I went.

Like most historic house museums, Rundlet-May House is not accessible to those using wheelchairs and with limited mobility. In contrast to most historic house museums, the house has a thorough virtual tour, complete with a 3D walkthrough hosted by Matterport, a monopoly in this niche field. The virtual tour is perfect for anyone interested in the museum but unable to travel there. The in-person tour is suitable for families with child ages ten and up. The teenage boy on my tour appeared bored, so understand the interests of your children before you go.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 8/10



Location: 364 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USA