The iconic real estate at the corners of Congress and High Street (with a private way access to Haven Court) and abutting Ladd Street, with five (5) different addresses, this site not only has a private 20 car parking lot but also sits at the crossroads of the High/Hanover Street's Portsmouth, NH public parking garage. 

This historic site, in the true heart of Market Square, has consistently housed many a flourishing business.  Beginning in the 1880's when a three-story wood gable-roofed building (torn down in the late 1890's), then housing many local businesses, as well as some with ties from Paris to Boston.  There was Pettigrew's Boots Shoes and Leather, (a local name still to this day) La Confiance Ins., Co. Paris, General Insurance Agency, and Commonwealth Fire Insurance from Boston. 

A true "who's who" of generations of owners with nearly all deed transfers ultimately resulting in a new building or block name, from the Italian who emigrated to Portsmouth and housed a confectionery shop at the address, then referred to as  The Fay Block or Fay's Block to the National Mechanic and Traders Bank, with not just its name still embedded in the building's brick, but also the full room-sized vault which still remains in the basement of our retail tenant and on to the more recent and infamous Jarvis Block.   This latest of references ties back to a family rich with political influencers the likes of Andrew Jarvis, a delegate to the New Hampshire state constitutional convention in 1948, and later City Councilor and two-term Mayor; however, most recently the more statesmen-like of figures, the late Sam Jarvis, is whom most still recall.  Legendary for how he graciously treated diners (his guests), in his many styled eateries, from the Jarvis Tea Room to the Paris-influenced Metro Restaurant, his legend continues to the next phase. 

The newest addition to our portfolio will bring another opportunity to put the shine back into a very distinguished downtown Portsmouth landmark.  While the redevelopment process is just beginning, we are proud to be embarking on daily improvements for our tenants as they continue to flourish in their businesses  (from Opal and Oak, Harbourlight Productions,  Arcove Architects and more recently the Management, Maintenance and Leasing Department of McNabb Properties , LLC , as well as upper residential occupants,... together we're all a part of the future of this block!

Check back in a year or two to see just how the historically correct architectural details of "yesteryear" will once again return to the City of Portsmouth.