J. Dennis Robinson

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Legend says that President George Washington kissed the three Chase girls on the forehead during his visit to Portsmouth, N.H., in 1789. I’ve been trying to prove this rumor for years. The daughters of Stephen and Mary Chase lived on the corner of what is now Court and Washington streets. History tells us that Washington walked from the inn where he was staying to the William Pitt Tavern, and then onto a boat for a tour of the Piscataqua River. He would have walked right past the elaborate, arched entrance of their merchant father’s house that practically shouts out, “Important people live here!” If the girls were dressed up pretty and standing in their grand doorway, the presidential smooches are hauntingly possible.

A Harvard grad, Stephen Chase defied his Tory father and backed the American Revolution. Smart move. He grew wealthy in the timber boom that followed. Stephen and Mary ran a store selling everything from linens to rum, speculated in real estate, and raised six children in this elegant gambrel-roofed Georgian. Rare surviving documents list every item in every room of the Chase household, now meticulously restored to the early 1800s. The first exhibit to open at Strawbery Banke in 1965, the house had also served as a Portsmouth orphanage. Amazingly, the exquisite original woodcarvings by noted local ship-carver Ebenezer Dearing survive– and have proven as enduring as the story of Washington’s kiss.   

To Visit: Strawbery Banke Museum offers 90-minute guided tours of the Chase House and other historic properties on these special winter days: Jan. 19, 20, 21 and Feb. 16, 17, 18. Tours run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the hour. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for children and $25 for two adults and children. The museum is located in Portsmouth, N.H., across from Prescott Park with parking at the corner of Marcy and Hancock streets. 603 433-1100 www.strawberybanke.org