Built in 1723, it is believed to be the oldest surviving example in New Hampshire of the traditional five-bay Georgian Colonial house, with a possibly older building attached as an ell.

[1] The Benjamin James House is located in a rural setting on the south side of Towle Farm Road, just west of Interstate 95.

Each bent has three posts, which support the roof framing and the summer beams defining the partition between the front and rear chambers.

The ell exhibits similar First Period construction techniques, whose forms are consistent with the idea that it was all or part of the first house built on the property, c. 1707.

Vacant and in deteriorating condition, it was purchased in 1995 by the James House Association, a local non-profit dedicated to its preservation.