welcome to vibrant villages new hampshire!
The purpose of Vibrant Villages New Hampshire is to inform and inspire citizens to embrace and implement ideas and practices that lead to lively, flourishing communities.
Our Towns and Neighborhoods
Compact Design
Getting Around
Home Sweet Home
Our Historic Assets
The purpose of Vibrant Villages New Hampshire is to inform and inspire citizens to embrace and implement ideas and practices that lead to lively, flourishing communities.
Vibrant Villages in New Hampshire is the vision Plan NH has for the Granite State. All of Plan NH’s work is done in support of these important characteristics we’re looking to foster...
Balance of tradition and development
Everyone participating in community life
Town centers with an array of services, spaces, and places to live
Protection for natural resources and undeveloped land
Collaboration among towns and regions in NH
Clean energy, heat, and agile response to weather events
Focus on social, economic, and environmental bottom lines
Local resources are offered to support local economies
Vibrant Villages in New Hampshire is a vision many have for the Granite State. This site focuses on realizing this vision through the lens of the built environment:
We want to talk about how each of these can contribute to healthy, vibrant towns and neighborhoods – and the people who live there. At the same time, we want to de-mystify related concepts that can be confusing or challenging.
We want it to be fun, and also a good resource for information on timely topics.
The site is Plan New Hampshire‘s, with deeply appreciated support from the NH Housing Finance Authority. Click on the link below to learn more about Plan New Hampshire.
This 41,000-sf former school building now has 43 residential units on three floors, a private fitness center, and an adult day care facility. (5.8 units per acre).The jury liked not only that historical features (such as blackboards, windows and lockers) were kept, but that this is within easy walking distance to downtown and its amenities, and is served by two bus routes.
Woodbury Mills is a workforce housing project located just a block and a half from Central Ave in Dover. Most recently an auto parts warehouse, the building was originally designed and constructed as a shoe factory. It sits on a .98-acre parcel in a neighborhood of smaller and multi-family homes, some light industry and just blocks from the hospital in one direction and the downtown business district in the other – both accessible via foot, bike or public transportation.
The Gothic Revival-style cottage, built in 1846, was transformed and a three-story, 7700-sf addition put on the back to create a center for homeless women and their children to live and take advantage of services to help them transition to community life. The center has 17 living units, administrative office space and a community kitchen and dining area. The jury liked the notion of adaptive re-use through historic renovation, and were particularly pleased that this is so close to public transportation and other services.
On two lots totaling just over an acre are two buildings, each with three units. The contemporary look and feel provides a good transition from the traditional neighborhood that surrounds it on two sides to the harder, more urban-feel of the by-pass, hotels, traffic circle and I-95, all within 100 yards or so of the remaining two sides. The jury thought this was a great design and use of this site.
THE LARGEST NH MUNICIPALITY IS PITTSBURG
282 Square MilesTHE SMALLEST IS NEW CASTLE
.83 Square MilesOn any random day in New Hampshire, 3% of the population over age 16 cannot drive because of vision impairment. 6% cannot drive because they have had their licenses suspended or revoked. How do they all get about – to work, to school, to shop, to family, to services? Who in your town does not drive?
According to the NH Center for Policy Studies, in its Housing in NH report, the senior population is expected to double in the next few years, and by 2025, one in three households will be lived in by person(s) over 65.
Mill rehabilitation and conversion to [homes] is attractive because it offers one-floor living, smaller and, arguably, more efficient [living spaces] and desirable in-town living.” From Big Houses, Small Households, part One of Housing in NH report by the Center for Policy Studies.
For many reasons, smaller and efficient homes are becoming very desirable. Here is a concept drawing of a neighborhood of small cottages – cottages which were actually designed to replace mobile homes lost in the floods of Irene but could be appealing to a broader audience.
In this restored gothic-style cottage, with an addition on the back, Families in Transition provides temporary but safe shelter for homeless women and their children.
Home extends beyond the walls where you eat and sleep. This (Center Sandwich) village center has been home to many for centuries and is a good example of the power of place in feeling “at home.”
2.5 kids per household is now .4 kids per household in NH.
Almost half the heads of households in NH are over age 55.
Only 20% of NH homes have a mom, dad, and kid under 18.
¼ of NH households are single people.
Half of NH households have fewer than 2 people.
The village of East Grafton has not changed much since this photo was taken in 1905. The village center runs for about a mile down the Grafton Turnpike. At one time a mill village, and then (concurrently) a railroad town, it has always also been a farming community, with small farms part of the “downtown.”
Built in 1823 in what was then a bustling mill village known as “Bungtown,” this carding mill is now one of only three extant industrial structures in East Grafton. Its significance earned it a spot on the NH Register of Historic Places in 2011.
After a stint as a printing press in the 1920s, the mill was partially converted into a residence. In 1994 the historical society received the mill as a donation, but only recently did restoration work begin. In the past five years, funded by an annual Race to Save the Mill, the mill has received extensive site work, documentation, roof repairs, timber replacement, and interpretive signage.
While reuse planning is still in flux, the society hopes to use the mill as a cider mill, artist studios, or office space.
Grafton’s tramp house (or Hobo house), used to house railroad hobos, was constructed in 1909 and is one of only three left in New Hampshire. Paid for by the town (to appease homeowners who were otherwise bothered by constant requests for housing by those who rode the rails), the interior surfaces were lined with sheet metal in an attempt to make the building fireproof. Two earlier tramp houses had burned due to careless tramps.
Recently, the Grafton Historical Society has embarked on the tramp house’s restoration, including permanently siting the structure at the society’s museum grounds, residing and painting the exterior, and installing a new (old) window and door. Upcoming restoration will rebuild the rear chimney and repair the interior to serve as exhibit space for this interesting – and forgotten – remnant of railroad history.
Not much has changed since Grafton’s public library was built in 1921, with tin ceilings, oak bookcases, and a hardwood floor. “The library is almost always the nicest building in town,” said Mr. Cushing, and he believes that here is no exception.
The Pines Schoolhouse was built in 1854 for the newly created District 13. Railroad development in Grafton Village provided the need for the new schoolhouse, and it served as such until 1958, when the town sold it. (The building has since been donated back to the town.) The schoolhouse retains much of its integrity, including an exterior wall of pupils’ names carved into the clapboards.
The Grafton Historical Society is responsible for maintaining the building, though its small lot and location pose challenges for reuse. To date, the windows have been reglazed and the exterior has received new paint. The Pines Schoolhouse was added to the NH Register of Historic Places in 2010.
The Grafton Town Hall was built in 1900 as a schoolhouse for East Grafton, and was closed as a school when the town regionalized with Canaan. Today it serves as the Town Hall.
Originally built as Grafton’s North Meetinghouse in 1785, the building was moved to the industrial village of East Grafton in c.1840. In 1896 the church was renovated with Victorian details, transforming the former austere meetinghouse into a more sumptuous sanctuary.
Plagued by poor attendance, despite a union denomination, the church trustees donated the building to the town of Grafton and the historical society in 2012. In order to open the building back to the public, the society is in the midst of an $84,000 restoration campaign that will replace rotted joists and solve moisture problems in the basement. Funding, in part, came from LCHIP and the Moose Plate grant.
The East Grafton Union Church was listed to the NH Register of Historic Places in 2010.
For more information about Plan NH’s Vibrant Villages NH Program, or to submit a photo, description of a project in your community, or comments about our site, please contact us. Note that all fields are required.
21 Daniel Street, 2nd floor c/o GPI
Portsmouth, NH 03801
[email protected]
603-452-7526
Please note we have moved locations! Our new office is on 21 Daniel Street.
Please send mail to: PO Box 1105 Portsmouth NH 03802