Hill-Lassonde House

The Hill-Lassonde House was one of the most well preserved houses of Italianate style built in Manchester, New Hampshire during the nineteenth century. Built in 1850, the house was for Alpheus Dwight Burgess, a machinist in Manchester, who had purchased the land the house was constructed on three years prior in 1847. Burgess sold the house in 1855 to Varnum Hill, who kept the house within the family until the 1980s. It housed modernist painter Omer T. Lassonde in the 1940s, giving it the latter part of its name.

The house was described as a two and a half story Italianate style with a wood structure and side-gable roof with a deep eave studded with brackets. The head facade was three bays wide, the center entrance sheltered by a portico supported by fluted square columns and pilasters. The ells extended all the way back and the property included a carriage house with a domed roof. The interior was described as having high-quality period woodwork, very well kept up during the twentieth century.

Sadly, this house met an unfortunate end in the summer of 2016. It was quietly demolished by the city after its most recent and final owner said it was too expensive to restore to its former glory. The house sat empty and bank-owned prior. After fighting on preservationists’ end, it was decreed that the house would be demolished in favor of a parking lot for an apartment complex nearby, despite being on New Hampshire's Seven to Save, and the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. It was labeled as one of the quintessential Italianate homes in New Hampshire.

It is important to commemorate locations that do not exist anymore, as just because they are no longer here physically does not mean that nothing was there and there was no historical impact at said location. Commemoration is important to show those interested in learning more about the unspoken and unrepresented parts of history that the parts of history we can no longer experience are just as important as the ones we can. This location is definitely a place one should visit to remember what once was and to remind the public of the importance of preserving history and teaching the future generations about the “secret” past of Manchester.

https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2QKT_Hill_Lassonde_House__Manchester_NH https://kids.kiddle.co/Hill%E2%80%93Lassonde_House

https://www.unionleader.com/news/history/historical-manchester-mansion-demolished/article_eb8623e8-77c4-577e-8127-b72efa20c2d9.html

https://manchesterinklink.com/case-saving-hill-lassonde-house-manchester/