Labor of Love

For one dedicated couple, preserving Portsmouth’s Langley Boardman House and creating its gardens was their life’s work.

June 27, 2025

Robin Sweetser, John W. Hession, Photographer,

The solid mahogany front door decorated with whalebone inserts, wrought iron fence and stair railings, granite hitching posts, Palladian window, and Ionic front portico are all original features from Boardman’s day.

Portsmouth is full of beautiful historic homes and one of them is the Langley Boardman house on Middle Street, now home to former State Senator Martha Fuller Clark. She and her late husband, Dr. Geoffrey Clark (Jeff), purchased the circa-1805, three-story Federal-style house in 1973, becoming only the fourth family to own it. As newlyweds, the Clarks shared an interest in historic preservation, and they welcomed the opportunity to restore this gem to its former luster at a time when many old homes in Portsmouth were being torn down.

Langley Boardman was born in 1774 in Ipswich, Mass., where he was the youngest of 11 children. Apprenticing as a cabinetmaker in Ipswich and Salem, Mass., he was trained in urban furniture design. At age 24 he set up shop in Portsmouth, making high-style furniture for the area’s most prominent families. He dominated the furniture market for 35 years and trained a new generation of craftsmen. As his wealth grew, he invested in real estate, cargo ships, textile mills and banks. Like Martha Fuller Clark, he also served in the State Legislature. In 1804 he had a grand mansion built on Middle Street to reflect his level of success. In it he incorporated elements of design he was familiar with from the fancy homes of Salem. The house was completed in 1811, and he lived there from 1814 until his death in 1833. It remained in the Boardman family until 1900 when it was sold to attorney William Marvin, who became the mayor of Portsmouth in 1905.

Restoration

The house was in tough shape when the Clarks purchased it. “The previous owner, who bought it from Marvin’s
heirs in 1962, had wanted to make it into six apartments,” explains Martha, “but the city turned him down.” Instead, he opened a Civil War bookstore in front, put a bed in the kitchen to make himself a living space, and fashioned a small rental apartment in the dining room. To create parking for his customers and tenants, he leveled the backyard — where Susan Marvin had lovingly tended a large rose garden for years — and covered it with gravel.

“Since it is on a major route, the house had settled over the years and needed repairs,” explains Martha. “We hired David Adams and Buzzy Dodge to work on the house when we first bought it.” Dodge, Adams, and Roy was a well-known firm responsible for restoring countless historic properties on the Seacoast. The Clarks moved in during the energy crisis, and in the late 1980s they added a new kitchen and sunporch on the rear of the house.

Located in a shady corner, the octagonal summerhouse, set off by a boxwood hedge, looks out over the backyard, which was once a gravel parking lot.

Located in a shady corner, the octagonal summerhouse, set off by a boxwood hedge, looks out over the backyard, which was once a gravel parking lot.

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Deeply embossed black wallpaper in the library is Anaglypta from the late 1800s, designed to resemble Lincrusta, which was very fashionable in its day.

Deeply embossed black wallpaper in the library is Anaglypta from the late 1800s, designed to resemble Lincrusta, which was very fashionable in its day.

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Deeply embossed black wallpaper in the library is Anaglypta from the late 1800s, designed to resemble Lincrusta, which was very fashionable in its day.

Deeply embossed black wallpaper in the library is Anaglypta from the late 1800s, designed to resemble Lincrusta, which was very fashionable in its day.

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The grand entry hall bisects the ground floor. Most of its original features are protected by the easement including the single board wainscots, chair rails, plaster finishes, interior shutters, softwood floors, and windows and doors and their casings.

The grand entry hall bisects the ground floor. Most of its original features are protected by the easement including the single board wainscots, chair rails, plaster finishes, interior shutters, softwood floors, and windows and doors and their casings.

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The elliptical staircase is just one of the interior features protected by the preservation easement.

The elliptical staircase is just one of the interior features protected by the preservation easement.

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A three-story elliptical staircase is set toward the back of the hallway, similar to a Charles Bullfinch design for Derby House in Salem, Mass.

A three-story elliptical staircase is set toward the back of the hallway, similar to a Charles Bullfinch design for Derby House in Salem, Mass.

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An espaliered pear tree on the garage wall, planted by Jeff Clark more than 30 years ago, is still going strong.

An espaliered pear tree on the garage wall, planted by Jeff Clark more than 30 years ago, is still going strong.

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“The Clarks thoughtfully, carefully and painstakingly restored the house,” says architectural historian Laura Driemeyer of Preservation Company, a consulting firm working with the Clarks. “They also made sure that any work that was done preserved the original architectural features and historic finishes, while also making sensitive changes that allowed their family to live comfortably in the house.”

Just like the Marvins before them, whose seven children loved sliding down the long bannisters, the Clarks found raising a family in a historic house to be a wonderful experience. The couple became deeply involved in the community, and Martha has served on every preservation committee and board in Portsmouth. She was on the founding board of the NH Preservation Alliance in 1985 and first ran for state office in 1990.

Reclamation

To reclaim the backyard, the Clarks worked with a landscape architect to design an appropriate use of the space. “We looked at the way landscapes were treated at the end of the 19th century,” she says. “Over the years we added beds along the far wall and moved the fence at the left side of the house to make more space for a Japanese-style meditation garden.” Climbing hydrangea now blankets the fence, and in that narrow, shady space they have several flowering shrubs and small trees including clethra, enkianthus, rhododendrons, stewartia and mountain laurel. Martha points out two treasured stone lanterns her great uncle brought back from Japan in 1900. “They were passed to my grandmother and then down to me,” she explains.

Where they once had a swing set and sandbox when the children were young, now there is a screened-in, octagonal summerhouse overlooking a boxwood hedge toward the renovated gardens. Roses are back, blossoming in the sunshine along with irises, peonies and dahlias, while hostas and ferns grow in the dappled shade of the old apple trees and tall maples.

The original carriage barn, which evolved into a garage during the Marvins’ time, sports an espaliered pear tree Jeff planted on one wall 30 years ago and a sweet autumn clematis supported by a wrought-iron arbor created by local blacksmith Peter Happny. Behind the garage, four raised beds host tulips in the spring and herbs, tomatoes and zucchini in the summer. “It all has evolved over time,” Martha says.

Preservation

Ownership of this distinctive, historic home will pass to Strawbery Banke at Clark’s death. “Significant exterior and interior features are protected by a preservation easement held by the NH Preservation Alliance,” explains Driemeyer. Lynne Monroe, former owner of Preservation Company and longtime friend of the Clarks, coordinated with Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the NH Preservation Alliance, on the easement. Preservation Company also prepared the application for the home’s inclusion on the National Register for Historic Places.

“Working on the Boardman House has been a real thrill, as it’s such a special building,” says Driemeyer. “The Clark’s ownership and stewardship testifies not only to the importance of the building but also their recognition of the importance of preservation in New Hampshire.”