Set above the Atlantic, Balmoral is not just a house but a fragment of another era. Built in 1930 as the summer residence of businessman and former New Hampshire governor Huntley N. Spaulding, the estate carries the quiet dignity of New England: elegant yet understated and designed to impart a sense of permanence.

The architecture reflects that stately sensibility, with a classic Colonial Revival facade that gives way to interiors scaled for both gracious entertaining and relaxed family living. And with more than 12,000 square feet over three floors (two above ground, one below), the house has six bedrooms and an equal number of bathrooms, plus four powder rooms.

Tour a New Hampshire Estate That Served as a Retreat for Mark Twain

A 36-foot-long entrance gallery opens to an ocean-view formal sitting room with a fireplace—one of half a dozen throughout the house—along with a spacious sunroom lined in lattice panels. Elsewhere is a fireside study painted tomato red, a walk-in wet bar, a dining room wrapped in delicate wallpaper depicting slender marsh reeds, and a wood-paneled library. Complemented by a large butler’s pantry and a built-in dining banquette, the kitchen flows into a casual dining area and family room. Off to one side is an oversized mudroom with hard-wearing brick floors and an integrated dog-washing station.

Three of the guest bedrooms have private bathrooms and two others share a compartmentalized Jack-and-Jill bath, while the primary suite occupies its own wing of the upper level, comprising a bedroom, a private sitting room, two fitted dressing rooms, and two bathrooms. Another of the home’s unique features is a walk-in closet custom-fitted as a gift-wrapping room.

This Martha’s Vineyard Home Has 10 Bedrooms and 14 Bathrooms

A major reconstruction and later updates carefully reworked the home for modern living, layering in amenities like a wine cellar, a fitness space, and updated guest quarters, all without disturbing the symmetry and restraint that define its original character. The grounds offer vast carpets of emerald lawns, clipped hedging, and a four-car carriage house with a garden bath and a second-floor studio apartment for guests or staff with a full kitchen and bath.

Balmoral, priced at $20 million and available via Tony Jalbert of Tate & Foss Sotheby’s International Realty, presides over 3.1 acres within Little Boar’s Head, a small enclave in the seaside community of North Hampton that has, for over a century, attracted a particular kind of resident. This is not where celebrities or attention-seekers come to see and be seen, but rather an under-the-radar spot favored by financial power players, political figures, and low-profile multi-generational families. Homes here are often held for decades and frequently pass quietly, introduced to the market when timing, rather than necessity, dictates a change.

Click here for more photos of the historic coastal estate in New Hampshire.

It’s been a little over a year since New Hampshire police departments started signing agreements with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help enforce immigration law in the state.

ICE now has 15 local partnerships, which are encouraged by Gov. Kelly Ayotte, and these so-called 287g agreements have contributed to a notable uptick in arrests here. Immigration arrests have doubled in the last 15 months. Of 429 people arrested, local agencies made 51 of them.

What’s in for local police? In part, money. ICE offers at least $100,000 in stipends, and local police departments are using that money to pay for operating expenses.

We talk about this on this edition of the New Hampshire News Recap.

Also, the state’s youth detention center continues to make headlines. Authorities are investigating recent allegations of abuse against children at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. Lawmakers and advocates are also raising concerns about leadership of the center.

In other news, there’s good news for Franklin. In a bit of a comeback story, the city’s high school was just named the top high school in the state.

Guests:

• Lau Guzmán, NHPR reporter
• Annmarie Timmins, NHPR Youth and Education reporter

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is asking for the public’s help in finding a sex offender and robbery convict, with “violent tendencies,” who is wanted on a parole violation.

Michael J. Wells is 60, white, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs around 150 lbs. He has dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. Officials said Wells sometimes uses the following aliases: “Michael Morris,” “Michael Morse,” and “Michael Kirby.” He has Tasmanian devil, star, moon, and skull tattoos on his right arm and a cross over a skull with a spider web on his left arm.

The warrant against Wells was issued by the New Hampshire Parole Board as well as Manchester police for duty to report, after accusing him of absconding from parole and failing to register as a sex offender.

“In December 1994,” an alert stated, “Wells was convicted of aggravated felonious sexual assault and as a result, is required to register as a Tier III sex offender for the remainder of his life. Wells is currently on Parole Supervision for robbery.”

In December 2018, Wells robbed the Citizens Bank in Manchester, passing a note stating, “I have a gun. No tracking. No dye bag. $20-$50 quickly. No alarm.” In August 2021, he committed the same offense under similar circumstances, officials said, after he was placed on escape status from the Calumet Transitional Housing Unit. He was arrested in Massachusetts a few weeks later.

Wells is known to frequent both Concord and Manchester.

Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Wells criminal history dates back more than four decades, according to superior court records, after he was accused of forgery in Nashua in August 1985. In June 1988, he was convicted on one forgery charge.

Wells was accused of theft in 1990 and he pleaded guilty to the charge a month later.

Wells was accused of bail jumping in February 1989.

In 1994, Wells was accused of aggravated felonious sexual assault, sexual assault, and second-degree assault charges in Nashua. In December 1994, he pleaded guilty to the second-degree assault charge. Wells was found guilty by the court on one aggravated felonious sexual assault charge in January 1996.

Wells was also accused of escape in December 1998.

In 2005 and 2006, more charges were racked up, including four acts prohibited counts in Nashua, a false report to law enforcement, receiving stolen property, two acts prohibited counts in Salem, and forgery in Manchester. Wells was found guilty on two of the drug charges in Salem and the Manchester forgery charge, while the others were nolle prossed.

In April 2019, Wells was convicted on the December 2018 bank robbery charges. He was given a three-and-a-half-to-10-year sentence with 136 days of time served credit and a 10-to-20-year sentence, suspended for 10 years.