Due to Decay, Porter House Is Demolished

Situated across Main Street and tucked quaintly among the trees, the demolished remains of an old New England home lie. Porter House has served as faculty housing at Phillips Exeter for almost an entire century, and was recently razed due to the rising cost of structural renovations.

Porter House has been unoccupied since the 2012-2013 school year; its inhabitants included English instructor Michelle Dionne. Dionne lived there with her family until the school asked her to relocate four years ago. She noted its architectural character and reminisced about the many happy years that she spent in Porter House with her family. “It was a charming old New England house, and I was really sad to see it bulldozed,” she said.

Dionne was not just sad about having to move, but she expressed grief that such a historic site could not be preserved or maintained for future residents. “I understand the economics,” she said, “but it’s too bad that the school doesn’t see fit to restore its old houses, even when it is expensive to do so. It’s a shame to see all these bits of history and New England character lost.”

The earliest photographs of Porter House date back to 1907, when it was located on Main Street near the administrative buildings. In 1931, Porter House was moved to make room for the construction of Jeremiah Smith Hall.

"It’s a shame to see all these bits of history and New England character lost.”

In the 1960s, the house was moved once more, along with a number of other houses, to make room for Main Street Hall and Ewald Hall.

The house’s history is extensive, and some say that it hosted famous politicians as they passed through Exeter. Dionne said that a neighbor told her that President Dwight D. Eisenhower once slept there.

Since the late 1960s, the structural support of the Porter House basement has been deemed inadequate. Facilities coordinator Anita Bailey, who is knowledgeable about the history of school buildings, discussed the house’s structural defects: “The costs to rectify the structural deficiencies would make the cost of the renovation prohibitive,” she said.

When the house was demolished, the school was very mindful of preserving some of its historical aspects.

“We were able to salvage a number of elements from the house for donation to Habitat for Humanity,” Bailey said. Habitat for Humanity is a global, nonprofit organization that seeks to provide affordable housing for families and accepts donations.

While there is not an official future plan in place for the land where Porter house once stood, it will likely become used for faculty condominiums.

As for Porter House, its century-long lifespan has finally come to end, and new history will begin again on the grounds of its remains.