Moffatt-Ladd House & Garden

About this venue

The Moffatt-Ladd House was built between 1760 and 1763 for the only son of John Moffatt, one of the wealthiest men in the colony of New Hampshire prior to the Revolution. Samuel and Sarah Catherine Moffatt were the first to live in the house and they took up residence shortly after their wedding in February 1764. They would be the beginning of almost 150 years of the same family living in the stately home on Fore Street (now Market Street), overlooking the Piscataqua River. The Garden was laid out in its present form by Alexander Hamilton Ladd in the late nineteenth century. His daily records reveal that he obtained plants from the gardens of his mother and grandmother and that he was an enthusiastic bulb gardener. A 300-foot axis path flanked by formal gardens leads from the house up four terraces to a wrought-iron gate at the rear boundary. Grass steps lead to the upper flower beds.