The Music Hall
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The Music Hall in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is an 1878 Victorian theater — the oldest in the state — that has welcomed such wide-ranging speakers and performers as Thomas Edison, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, Tony Bennett and Ray Lamontagne.
The movie theater managed to stay open through the Great Depression but closed in 1971 and sat vacant until the mid-1980s, when Friends of the Music Hall took it over. In the early 2000s, the nonprofit “did our big renovation and brought it back to its earlier glory,” said James Paone, general manager of front of house and rentals.
Today, guests enter through the 2,600-square-foot Beaux Arts-style lobby before heading upstairs to the restored upper lobby and into the 895-seat auditorium. There, visitors will see original cherubs on the proscenium arch “that are beautifully detailed in gold leaf right over the center of the stage,” he said, and the wraparound balcony ends about 12 feet from the stage on either side.
In addition to keynote speakers, presentations and fundraisers, the historic theater can be used for private parties and small gatherings, and the hall has even done onstage dinners with a curtain-raising reveal.
Groups of about 100 can use the lobby for receptions, and across the street, The Loft is a modern black-box space that can seat 124.
Aldrich Mansion
Warwick, Rhode Island
The Aldrich Mansion sits on a 70-acre estate in Warwick, Rhode Island, fronting Narragansett Bay. Construction started in 1896 on Sen. Nelson Aldrich’s mansion, and about 16 years later, his 70-room Chateau was complete. His daughter, Abby Aldrich, married John D. Rockefeller Jr. at the mansion in 1901.
In 1939, the family transferred the Aldrich Mansion and 100 acres to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, which still owns the estate today.
Inside the Chateau, visitors will find Italian marble, vaulted ceilings, soaring arches and intricate woodcarvings. The mansion offers 7,000 square feet of event space in several rooms; they include the Great Reception Hall, the Aldrich and Ivory dining rooms, a sitting room, a bar, a porch, a formal library and a grand terrace, as well as acres of manicured grounds overlooking the bay.
The mansion can accommodate up to 230 guests for banquets and receptions. The Aldrich and Ivory dining rooms each hold 100 people, and the adjoining enclosed porch between them can accommodate another 30 guests. All three spaces front the water.
Southern Vermont Arts Center
Manchester, Vermont
The campus of the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vermont, began life in 1917 as a 400-acre private estate with a 28-room mansion. Southern Vermont Artists bought the estate in 1950, and it became the home of the Southern Vermont Arts Center. Today, the original building remains on more than 120 acres of forestland, and the campus now includes a modern museum, studio facilities, a 400-seat auditorium and the largest sculpture garden in the state.
Housed in the historic mansion, the Yester House Galleries can accommodate up to 300 people for a reception or 100 guests for a seated meal. Visitors can explore artwork in 10 galleries and enjoy the mansion’s original hardwood floors, red walls and fireplace.
Across the courtyard, the contemporary Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum features over 800 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century art. The Wilson Museum and Galleries can accommodate events for up to 200 people.
The Arkell Pavilion is a former barn that was restored and renovated in 2000. In addition to acting as the center’s performance space, the 400-seat indoor auditorium works well for presentations, speakers and screenings.
