About

Welcome to 20 Westminster Street: A Historical and Architectural Journey

The Aaron Howland House website offers a detailed exploration of the historic residence at 20 Westminster Street in Walpole, New Hampshire — its architecture, its builder, and the people who have called it home.

The site presents biographies of the property’s owners from 1819 to 1998, drawing on land records, period newspapers, local histories, and family correspondence to trace their lives and their connections to the house and the community. It examines the Greek Revival architecture of 20 Westminster Street, situating the house within the broader tradition of classical design in early nineteenth-century New England and identifying the pattern-book sources that informed its construction.

A self-guided walking tour places the house within the larger historic landscape of Walpole Village, interpreting nearby buildings, streetscapes, and landmarks that illuminate the social, architectural, and civic context in which the house developed. The site also features antique maps of Walpole from 1858, 1892 and 1915, offering a visual record of the village’s evolution over nearly sixty years.

A catalog of buildings attributed to Howland documents his wider influence on Walpole’s built environment and identifies areas where further architectural study is needed.

About the Author

Stephen Ballard is a retired attorney living in Walpole, New Hampshire. In 2026 he was appointed a trustee of the Walpole Historical Society. He believes that understanding, stewarding and sharing the stories of historic places deepens community life and anchors the present in a meaningful past.

Over the years, he has lived in and restored several historic houses in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. He was instrumental in securing a National Register of Historic Places listing for Annefield, an Italianate villa attributed to builder Jacob W. Holt (1811–1880) in Charlotte County, Virginia, a property he formerly owned. His credentials include more than 25 years of experience in real property law, land use and historic preservation, with bar admissions in California and the District of Columbia.