"Built by Col. Nathaniel Sparhawk, who married Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir William Pepperell, in 1742. The first Nathaniel Sparhawk came from England in 1640, and resided in Cambridge. His grandson, the Colonel, went into business in Boston, but upon his marriage with Lady Elizabeth. Came and settled here. He was a man of influence, and held many public offices. This house was very handsomely built, and its various rooms were hung with differently color damask, red, blue, yellow, each room raking its name therefrom, after the English fashion. Elizabeth’s father sent to England for her wedding dress, which was to be 'of white padusoy silk, flowered with all sorts of colors, suitable for a young woman.' Col. Sparhawk died in 1789, and his widow went to Boston: but one of his sons, Nathaniel, came back to the family mansion in 1809, and died here in 1815, when it was sold."

Excerpted from The Portsmouth Guide Book, 1896, by Sarah Haven Foster.

Inscription reads, "Sparhawk house 1742. Kittery."