Strawbery Banke Museum occupies ten acres of Portsmouth's original waterfront neighbourhood — the same ground that was continuously inhabited from 1630 to the mid-20th century. Thirty-seven historic structures have been preserved on their original sites, spanning four centuries of domestic and commercial architecture. Costumed interpreters work in some of the houses; others are restored interiors that visitors walk through unguided.
What makes Strawbery Banke unusual among living history museums is that it shows the full timeline of one neighbourhood rather than freezing it at a single moment. A 1790 merchant's house sits a few doors from a 1950s family home, and the material poverty visible in some of the later buildings is not softened. The kitchen gardens are maintained with period-appropriate plants. Allow two to three hours; the site is larger and more detailed than it appears.