PACKERS FALLS ROAD

172 Packers Falls Road is an antique Cape from 1830 on 13.8 acres of woods, open lawn, and established gardens on the Lamprey River side of Durham, about a mile from Packers Falls and the Wiswall Dam. The house sits close to the road with the land running back behind it; the lot abuts conservation land and has walking paths through the woods. Downtown Durham, the University of New Hampshire, and the Amtrak station are about 10 minutes away, Newmarket about 5, and Portsmouth about 30.

Inside, the old house shows its age in the best way: wide-plank floors upstairs, exposed beams in the kitchen, a brick fireplace with built-in bookcases in the living room, and a leaded-glass Gothic window beside the red front door. The house has grown with a series of additions: a sunroom with windows on 3 sides in 2001, a skylit first-floor bedroom in 2002, a Cape wing on the north side in 2004, a south-side addition and a new entry in 2011. The kitchen has a butcher block island and a dining nook by the windows. A first-floor bedroom with built-in shelving, used now as an office, sits beside a full bath off the front entry. Upstairs are the primary suite, with a walk-in closet and a bath with a whirlpool tub, 2 more bedrooms, a hall bath, and the laundry.

Outside are brick walkways and a brick patio behind a stone wall, raised garden beds, mature trees, and several outbuildings, including a detached 2-car garage built in 2008 with a full unfinished loft above it, ready to become a studio, an office, or guest quarters, subject to town approval. The house has multi-zone propane heat, a 2023 Rinnai on-demand water heater, 200 amp service, and a private well and septic.