Bridges House

{{short description|Historic house in New Hampshire, United States}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Bridges House | nrhp_type = | designated_other1 = New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places | designated_other1_date = July 25, 2005<ref name=NHSRHP/> | designated_other1_number = | image = ConcordNH GovernorsMansion.jpg | caption = | location = 21 Mountain Rd., Concord, New Hampshire | coordinates = {{coord|43|14|20|N|71|32|16|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = New Hampshire#USA | built = ca. 1835 | architect = Graham, Charles | architecture = Greek Revival, Georgian | added = December 22, 2005 | area = {{convert|11|acre|ha}} | refnum = 05001444<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}

'''Bridges House''' is the official residence of the governor of New Hampshire and their family. Located at 21 Mountain Road in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, it has served as the governor's official residence since 1969. Built in 1836, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2005,<ref name="nris"/> and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in July of the same year.<ref name=NHSRHP>{{cite web |title=New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places |url=https://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/programs/state_register_listinged_prop.htm#listingsdate |publisher=New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources |accessdate=November 25, 2020}}</ref>

==Description and history== The New Hampshire Governor's Mansion is located in a rural-residential setting about {{convert|2|mi|km}} north of downtown Concord, on the west side of Mountain Road (New Hampshire Route 132) north of the East Concord exit from Interstate 93. It is set on eleven landscaped acres, with views toward downtown Concord, Rattlesnake Hill, and the Merrimack River valley. The house is a {{frac|2|1|2}} story brick building, with a side gable roof and end chimneys. It is oriented facing south, with a five-bay front facade. The main entrance is at the center, flanked by sidelight windows and topped by an entablature and granite lintel. Windows are set in rectangular openings, with granite sills, and granite lintels on the first-floor windows. The street-facing east facade has a pedimented brick gable with a deep recess at the center and ogee crown moulding along the rake edge.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|05001444}}|title=NRHP nomination for H. Styles Bridges House|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2017-12-18}}</ref>

The house was built by Charles Graham about 1836. It is a particularly early example in the state of Greek Revival architecture executed in brick, a building material that was only then beginning to come into wider use for home construction in central New Hampshire.<ref name=NRHP/> Styles Bridges, governor of New Hampshire (1935–37) and U.S. senator for 25 years thereafter, lived in the house from 1946 until his death. Bequeathed to the state upon the death of his widow Doloris Bridges, in 1969 it became the governor's official residence.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/programs/StateRegisterListingDetails.htm |title = NH State Register of Historic Places: Bridges House, Concord |publisher = New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources |date = 2008-10-09 }}</ref>

During the 1980s, New Hampshire First Lady Nancy Sununu oversaw the first major renovations in the mansion's history.<ref name=bg>{{cite news |first=Steven |last=Porter |title=Nancy Sununu remembered for her devotion to N.H. political family |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bostonglobe.com%2F2024%2F09%2F09%2Fmetro%2Fsununu-matriarch-nh-political-dynasty%2F%23%3A~%3Atext%3DNancy%2520H.%2520Sununu%2C%252085%2C%2520remembered%2520for%2520devotion%2520to%2520New%2520Hampshire |work=Boston Globe |publisher= |date=2024-09-09 |access-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url= |archive-date= |url-status=}}</ref><ref name=ind>{{cite news |first=Paula|last=Tracy |title=Nancy Sununu, Former NH First Lady and Governor’s Mother, Dies After Battling Alzheimer’s |url=https://indepthnh.org/2024/09/07/nancy-sununu-former-nh-first-lady-and-governors-mother-dies-after-long-battle-with-alzheimers/#:~:text=HAMPTON%20%E2%80%93%20Former%20New%20Hampshire%20First%20Lady%20Nancy%20H.%20Sununu, |work=InDepthNH.org |publisher= |date=2024-09-07 |access-date=2024-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913104610/https://indepthnh.org/2024/09/07/nancy-sununu-former-nh-first-lady-and-governors-mother-dies-after-long-battle-with-alzheimers/#:~:text=HAMPTON%20%E2%80%93%20Former%20New%20Hampshire%20First%20Lady%20Nancy%20H.%20Sununu, |archive-date=2024-09-13 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Not all governors live in the mansion during their tenure. Recent examples include John Lynch, a resident of nearby Hopkinton, and Maggie Hassan, a resident of Exeter, who resided instead on the campus of Phillips Exeter Academy where her husband, Thomas Hassan, served as principal.

==See also== *National Register of Historic Places listings in Merrimack County, New Hampshire *New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 67: Bridges House-Governor's Residence *Warren Brown (politician) (1836–1919), who constructed a house in North Hampton, New Hampshire, colloquially known as "the Governor's mansion"

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.friendsofbridgeshouse.org/ Friends of Bridges House]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridges House}} Category:Styles Bridges New Hampshire Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Category:Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Category:Houses in Concord, New Hampshire Category:Houses completed in 1836 Category:New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places Category:National Register of Historic Places in Concord, New Hampshire Category:Governor of New Hampshire Category:Upper class culture in New Hampshire