It will be a bed and breakfast with all locally sourced foods, wines.”

Stefanie Boyer, concessionaire

PORTSMOUTH — For more than 40 years, the two-and-a-half-story Federal Revival home at the end of Linden Lane was home to Arthur Daniel Howell, the superintendent of Glen Farm Estate from 1927 until his death in 1973. 

Now the town-owned building, built around 1925, will be transformed into a bed and breakfast bearing his name.

The Town Council Tuesday night voted unanimously to enter into a concessionaire’s agreement with an Exeter couple, Stefanie Boyer and David Records, to manage the property as a B&B. It’s an idea the town first proposed in 2014.

The agreement is modeled after a similar contract the town has with the managers of nearby Glen Farm Stables. The original request for proposals for the stables included an option to include or propose a separate plan for the so-called “Phelps House.” Ms. Boyer and Mr. Records were the only applicants to submit a proposal for just that building.

The couple will operate the property for five-year renewable terms up to 20 years in total. In return, they will pour a significant amount of money to restore the dilapidated building and maintain it going forward.

The town will also receive some revenue from the business, but it’s too early to determine how much, according to Richard Talipsky, the town’s director of business development who presented the terms of the agreement to the council. The project was never intended to be a financial windfall anyway, Mr. Talipsky said.

“Like with the stables, I don’t expect the town to gain a lot of money, but we’re going to get a lot of improvements on the property … and its infrastructure,” he said after the meeting.

“This is a $350,000-to-$400,000 restoration, so the town is getting that,” added Ms. Boyer. “We need to realize what money we’re putting back into the property. They’re getting a beautiful home, and it will be maintained.”

Ms. Boyer, who expects the restoration work to begin in July, said she and her husband, a contractor who’s also dabbled in catering, are excited to get down to work.

“It’s a Federalist Revival, so everything in it will be period pieces,” she said, noting that the home has four bedrooms — each with its own bathroom. “It will be a bed and breakfast with all locally sourced foods, wines. We’ll also have box lunches, box dinners. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The couple will not live in the B&B along with their guests, “but we’ll be there daily,” Ms. Boyer said.

“I think this is a great idea,” council member Keith Hamilton said. “I see many guests going in and out of there over the next 20 years.”

New name

After the council approved the agreement, there was some debate over what to call the building. The town recently asked residents through an online survey what they thought the new monicker should be.

The dwelling has been unofficially referred to as the "Phelps House" due to its association with Mason Phelps, a member of the Taylor family who owned the property before it was acquired by the town. But according to Town Historian Jim Garman, Mr. Phelps never actually lived there; he only hosted parties and receptions at the home.

Mr. Garman and another member of the Portsmouth Historical Society, Gloria Schmidt, both said they’d like to see the building called “Glen Farm House,” to tie it in with the rest of the property.

Another popular suggestion was the "Red Cross House,” which refers to the limited association the house had with the Red Cross hospital located in the horse barns during World War II. That idea was discarded, however, because it didn’t seem like a marketable name for a B&B.

The council asked Ms. Boyer what she thought. 

“In keeping with historical precedence, very often the house is named after the one who built it or lived in it predominantly. I would really prefer ‘The Arthur Daniel Howell House,’” she said.

Council member Leonard Katzman said he believed the town should defer to the people who are going to market the property, and the others unanimously agreed.