Five Palladian windows set the Larkin-Rice House apart at 180 Middle Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Built c. 1813–15, this distinctive example of Federal period architecture is especially notable for a facade that displays five Palladian windows.
You’re on the west side of Middle Street, a busy through street south of downtown Portsmouth, tucked between Austin and State Streets. The house rises three stories in brick, roughly square in footprint, with four chimneys and a truncated hip roof topped by a widow’s walk at its center. The main facade is three bays wide, a calm, symmetrical arrangement of windows around a centered entrance.
Look closely: the windows flanking the entrance are classical three-part Palladian compositions, with narrow sidelights and a rounded center; the second floor repeats the trio, though the flanking sidelights there have been bricked over. All the windows sit in slightly recessed brick panels, while the third-floor openings are small three-over-three sash crowned by splayed stone lintels. The main cornice carries classical detailing that completes the composition.
Picture 1979, when the National Register recognized this house — its recessed brick panels, classical cornice, and widow's walk still watch over Middle Street.