Join the Greater Keene and Peterborough Chamber for an evening of networking, drinks, appetizers, and fun at Aldworth Manor in Harrisville -  our first in person Business After Hours since March 2020! This event is FREE for Chamber members, and $10 for non-members. Advanced registration is required. There can only be a max of 50 attendees so reserve your spot today!  

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Aldworth Manor was originally built in the early 1800s in Worcester, Massachusetts to a design by Worcester architects, the Fuller & Delano Company. How then did it end up in Harrisville, New Hampshire? It is rumored that in the early 1900s Mr. and Mrs. Arthur and Alice Childs could inherit the manor in Massachusetts and one million dollars if they physically resided in the home.
 
Having previously bought a plot of 700 acres in New Hampshire for his “hunting lodge,” Arthur and Alice devised the brilliant plan to move the manor house—and live in it there. So it was shipped to Harrisville, New Hampshire, through an unbelievable feat of taking it apart piece by piece and transporting it on the B&M Railroad. Wagon loads hauled by horses, oxen and mules carried the disassembled house to and from the 17 flatbed railroad cars.
 
In 1908 Aldworth Manor was born again at the Harrisville, New Hampshire location. Mr. and Mrs. Childs poured an extensive amount of money into the property, gardens, and local community. They even took part in the Village Improvement Society, instigating the first tarred road to be established in Harrisville. The Childs extensively landscaped the farm property, building an elaborate terraced garden east of the house, a reflecting pool, a garden house with a tile roof, a carriage house, and a pergola supported by Tuscan columns. Aldworth’s entrance drive is still flanked by the rhododendrons the Childs had imported.

In 2014 Aldworth Manor was listed for sale yet again, facing an uncertain future.  It was during that time Shane Long, his parents Roger and Tammy Long, along with his brother Jordan Long, stepped in and purchased the historic estate. 

At the time of the Long’s purchase, Aldworth had fallen into disrepair and needed serious renovation. With the help and support of friends, family and locals, the Long family is giving Aldworth Manor the dignity it deserves by restoring it, quite literally, room by room – and preserving this important part of New England’s rich history. With their beautiful, tended gardens, a new commercial kitchen, fully stocked bar, year-round dining, three renovated houses for guest lodging, and the lovingly restored manor house, the Longs now welcome wedding parties, guests looking for a quiet getaway, and locals, who enjoy concerts, public nights and other special events. Community involvement, the arts, historic preservation, and conservation are all focuses of the Long Family as they restore the estate.