The Warner House Cupola

What would the Warner House be without its cupola?  We don’t plan to find out!

Please join the Cupola campaign. Your support could put us over the top!

For 300 years, the Cupola has been one of the defining characteristics of the Warner House, the brick mansion built for Capt. Archibald Macpheadris by architect John Drew beginning in 1716. This majestic pinnacle was originally designed to serve several purposes. More than merely a decorative feature, it created a strong internal ventilation system and was an ideal, weather-protected, place to watch the ships coming in and out of the port. This was particularly helpful to the house’s illustrious owners, since Macpheadris and Warner both conducted their mercantile and shipping business from the home. 

Unfortunately, the tests of time and often-unforgiving New England weather mean that cupolas and their support structures often begin to leak and erode in places, essentially creating a hole in the roof. There are hundreds of spots where the elements can infiltrate – after all, water always finds a way. To compound the problem for the Warner House, the roof was originally constructed with an M shape forming a central valley. This M shape design was fine in England, where it usually just rains, but in New England this turned out to be an impractical design. It provided the perfect place for rain, snow, and ice to accumulate with nowhere to go. We’ve been watching the state of our cupola for years, and knew that a restoration project was sorely needed to ensure that we can protect the integrity of the Warner House for future generations.

After years of planning and fundraising, we are now ready for preservation work to begin in June of this year! Preservation Timber Framing of Berwick, ME, will begin restoring the cupola by carefully removing it from the roofline, and placing it in our garden using a crane. Once on the ground, they can more easily (and safely) work on the structure, allowing all of us to see this fascinating process up close and personal! Events and programs are being planned around the restoration, with the cupola being in the garden for the summer of 2025. We’ll share further updates and a calendar of events once we’ve firmed up the details.

In the meantime, we need your help. We’re grateful to so many donors, fundraising events, and support organizations, which have brought us to approximately 95% of our funding needs. There is just $30,000 still to go. Please help put us over the top! Any amount will help. Together, we can save this important historical feature of the Portsmouth skyline - and our connection to the past - for more generations to come!