Forest Hall

Barrett House, also known as Forest Hall, was built c. 1800 by Charles Barrett Sr. for his son Charles Jr. and daughter-in-law Martha Minot on the occasion of their marriage. Its grand scale was encouraged by Martha’s father, who promised to furnish the house in as lavish a manner as Barrett Sr. could build it. It features family furnishings, French scenic wallpaper, and a third-floor ballroom with period musical instruments.

The mansion sits on more than seventy acres that include perennial and annual gardens and a Gothic Revival summer house that crowns the hillside overlooking the expansive grounds. Learn about the multiple generations that resided at Barrett House, their lifestyles, and the impressive country estate that represents a vanished way of life from a time when New Ipswich was an active mill town.

Barrett House is located at 79 Main Street, New Ipswich, New Hampshire 03071.

From the Conservator's Notebook

Historic New England objects conservator Michaela Neiro supervised the conservation treatment and stabilization of this exhibition’s paintings and frames over a period of two years. The Conservator’s Notebook features explanations and insights that Michaela has drawn from her project notebook, including close-up photographs showing how the work was done.

A diagrammed image of the frame of Forest Hall shows the result of our cleaning test and a loss of compo section revealing the wood and gesso frame components below. See if you can find the reproduction areas on the finished frame.