The open, straight forward countenance of Wheelwright House says much about the eighteenth century. That period, often called the "age of reason" marked the last great turn away from the superstition of earlier centuries toward a more rational approach to life. Important to that change was a rediscovery of the ideas of the ancient philosophers. That classical influence found its way into architectural style in seventeenth century England and later in eighteenth century America. The style is known as Georgian after the eighteenth century kings of England. Wheelwright House, built during the period of the American Revolution, is an excellent example of how a basic middle-class dwelling of the eighteenth century took on a dignified air by the addition of classical Georgian embellishments.

Captain John Wheelwright made his living at sea, as evidenced by an inventory of his estate taken after his death in 1784. Among his possessions were "1 sea bed, 1 quadrant, 3 sea coats" and "1 old sea chest." He was an elected member of the Marine Society a group of mariners who were "more intimately acquainted with the Circumstances and Incidents attending the Navigation of (the Piscataqua River) than others." During the five years preceding the American Revolution Wheelwright commanded the brig Abigail on eight consecutive voyages to the West Indies.

The war, however, brought hardships. In September of 1775 the Abigail, laden with a cargo of lumber, was seized off the New Hampshire coast by a squadron of British ships, and taken to Boston, then under British control. Faced with a disruption in trade, Wheelwright served first as second lieutenant aboard the continental ship Raleigh, and later as commander of several privateers in Boston. He had little success in these ventures, however, and wartime inflation caused him to go into debt. When he died a year after the peace treaty was signed, he owed his creditors in excess of £400. To pay the debts his house was sold at public auction, and his wife, Martha, and his children Elizabeth and Jack, were forced to move away.

It is not a large house. Its features reflect, on a simpler scale, the same style and taste found in grander homes of the town. The exterior details, the triangular pediments and the fluted pilasters on either side of the front door, are an example. Most notable inside is the abundance of paneling, including folding paneled window shutters. A restrained elegance is also imparted by the deeply grooved pilasters that frame the fireplaces of the two lower front rooms. Upstairs, the fireplaces are recessed into splayed paneling. Inside and out Wheelwright House maintains a pleasing tension between simplicity and sophistication. It documents well an eighteenth century middle-class inhabitant of Portsmouth who combined a modest income with a strong awareness of the refined tastes of aristocratic society. This house has been restored through the generosity of the S. Judson Dunaway Charitable Foundation of Dover, New Hampshire.