This project demonstrates how preservation can support multiple public goals at once: protecting historic fabric, expanding housing, interpreting underrepresented histories, and preparing existing buildings for a changing climate.
Preserving History + Future
May 22, 2026
Placework is celebrating the opening of the Penhallow-Cousins House at Strawbery Banke Museum.
This project brings together preservation, climate adaptation, housing development, and cultural storytelling in one mixed-use historic house. It has been an honor, and at times a challenge, to help Strawbery Banke Museum bring this culturally and architecturally significant project to fruition over the past ten years.
The post-and-beam structure was built in 1750 as a single-family house and has functioned as a multi-unit building since its relocation from several blocks away in 1862. One side of the building now transports museum visitors back to the home of the Cousins family, a Black family that lived in that apartment in the late 1930s. The other half is split into two private apartments for rent as part of the museum’s Heritage House Program.
A Sustained Collaboration
Our role on the project began in 2016 with an initial Conditions Assessment Report, documenting the building’s character-defining features and outlining a preservation plan. The report helped support the museum’s application for a New Hampshire LCHIP (Land and Community Heritage Investment Program) grant, one of several funding sources that helped mark the project possible.
The exterior was preserved to the greatest extent possible, with carefully refurbished exterior clapboard, restored windows, and precisely patched trim. The addition of a new ramp provides access to the exhibit side from the rear, which faces the museum campus.
Strawbery Banke’s curatorial team, led by Chief Curator Elizabeth Farish, have thoughtfully restored the exhibit rooms to reflect the period from 1937-1943. Historic furnishings and artifacts donated by the Cousins family tell stories of day-to-day life among a Black family that was part of the Great Migration to the north.
The Cousins family kitchen as recreated for the museum exhibit.
Residents of the rehabilitated apartments enter the building from Washington Street, using the same interior stair that was added in the 1860s. Placework collaborated with builder Preservation Timber Framing to create units with modern heating systems, kitchens, and baths while preserving as much of the original building fabric as possible. The resulting interiors express the sensitive collaboration of owner and architect and the careful craftsmanship of the construction team.
Contributing to Coastal Resilience
The Penhallow-Cousins House also reflects Strawbery Banke Museum’s broader commitment to sustainability and climate resilience, led by Director of Environmental Sustainability Rodney Rowland. To address deterioration caused by rising groundwater and tidal impacts from the Piscataqua River, the entire building was lifted so a new foundation could be installed beneath it. The replacement granite and brick-faced concrete foundation is designed for wet floodproofing, allowing water to enter and exit the crawlspace below.
The Penhallow-Cousins House demonstrates how preservation can support multiple public goals at once: protecting historic fabric, expanding housing, interpreting underrepresented histories, and preparing existing buildings for a changing climate.
Restored windows at a new residential unit.
Our long-standing work with Strawbery Banke Museum has taught us that the most successful preservation projects are grounded in shared purpose, patience, and a willingness to learn from the past. This project reflects the value of sustained collaboration and the opportunity to give historic buildings renewed relevance through thoughtful design.
Read more about the Cousins Apartment and Strawbery Banke Museum’s Sea Level Rise Initiative.