Portsmouth NH
See our blog for new projects, announcements, and all things TMS Architects & Interiors.Happy 12th TMS Anniversary Cristina Johnson!
It’s been 12 years of TMS for Principal Architect and Interior Designer Cristina Johnson, AIA, NCIDQ, and we couldn’t be more grateful!
Cristina joined our team in 2013 and helped build our Interior Design department from the ground up. She has served as a principal since 2023 and is directly involved with most of the projects that pass through our office. From residential renovations to commercial office and hospitality work, her experience includes new builds and renos ranging from $20,000 to $85 Million. No matter the scope of the project, she particularly enjoys striking the balance between aesthetics and functionality, so clients can live happily and easily.
Outside of the office, Cristina is currently dedicating most of her time to renovating her own 1850’s farmhouse (can you tell she loves what she does?).
A big thank you from our team for all of her hard work over the years and everything she has helped our team achieve. Here’s to many more years of beautiful design!
Brief List of Cristina Johnson’s Awards:
New Hampshire Home Awards
-Excellence in Interior Design-
2019 ~Coastal Dream
2020 ~Classic Seaside
2021 ~Wisteria Place
-Excellence in Remodeling/Renovation Design-
2019 ~Lakefront Transformation
2021 ~ Summer House
-Excellence in Kitchen Design-
2022 ~Ocean Break
2023 ~Cove Light (transitional)
2024 ~Oak House (contemporary)
-Excellence in Historic Renovation-
2023 ~Downtown Federal
-Excellence in Whole House Design-
2024 Winner ~Coastal Legacy
Springtime in Portsmouth: Best of Events
It may feel like a jinx to even think it, but May has arrived and spring might just be here to stay. While there may be countless jazz sounds of springtime in Paris and poems of springtime in New York City, all who have ever been know there’s no place quite like New England in spring – and for anyone who’s been up the coast, no place in New England quite like Portsmouth. Striking architecture, thriving culture, and that kiss of salt air make it a destination all year round. But in spring, as the tree-lined streets are covered in blossoms and a hint of bright blue summer skies is just beginning to tease, our historic city truly thrives. Create your favorite memories for the season with the best events in town!
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Jazz, Bowling, & Wine: The Best of Portsmouth in February
February often seems little more than a frustrating extension to winter, filled with nothing but slate skies and slushy streets – especially when it starts with such a Super Bowl high, only to have nowhere to go but down (except for the inches of snow). For some, Valentine’s Day and snow sports offer a willing escape, but for others the wait for spring is interminable. Unless, of course, those others are in Portsmouth. As always, this gem of the coast has plenty of exciting events and cozy retreats to fill its time, whatever the season or the weather.
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The Wentworth Lear Historic Houses: Pieces of History, Masterpieces of Portsmouth
Compare and contrast. It’s done by everyone; to make the best choice, find the best deal, take the best chance. Throughout any day, endless small decisions are made by the measure of these meters, without even conscious thought: which elevator will come the fastest, which sandwich for lunch, which movie to watch. These choices shape our tastes and styles, these little opinions, from the boots we like to how appealing we find the structure of a doorway. Eventually, such choices begin making larger appearances – where we go to college, where we live – and rarely are choices larger and put on greater display than when they form the creation of your home. In your home, your choices are reflected not just to the current outside world, but to your own family for generations. This is what makes the Wentworth Lear Historic Houses of Portsmouth, New Hampshire a unique and exemplary opportunity to look at the process of taste, culture, and choice in two houses built nearly three centuries ago, in striking contrast, side by side – and both with their stamp on our nation’s history.
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Strawbery Banke: A Portsmouth Masterpiece
Most towns have a Historical Society, a museum where the unique past of a specific place is celebrated and passed on to future generations. Whether they’re the smallest of villages or largest of cities, a town’s museum can be a genuine institution, collecting and protecting everything from family trees to farming practices. But while in most towns such societies and museums are often in a cherished Victorian home or a renovated library, as usual, Portsmouth’s dedication to its community goes far beyond with the thirty-nine separate historical edifices that create the truly outstanding Strawbery Banke Museum.
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Howells Almost Restored Puddle Dock
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
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Walking in a Winter Wonderland: Portsmouth’s Best December Events
The towns that nestle along New England’s rocky, spectacular coastline are legendary for many things: remarkable history, breathtaking beauty, and incomparable character. These many towns may all be remarkable, breathtaking, and incomparable – at any time of year, or any moment within that year – but there is one town that shines especially, and never more so than a special time of year. While some may think first of the shimmering, vibrant hues of autumn; the glimmering, dewy blossom of spring; the sparkling, lush flash of summer. But in Portsmouth, there’s one season that glitters more brightly – the wintery holiday season. The glisten of untouched snow, glowing candles in windows, woodsmoke dancing in the crisp air. Nothing shows off our harbor as the Christmas Capital of North America quite as well, unless it’s the bevy of wonderful events that celebrate it all.
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Wallace Nutting Briefly Beautified Portsmouth
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
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Portsmouth’s Best: Late Summer Lights, Early Fall Enjoyments
The first few weeks September are so often the sweetest of summer. While it may go by too fast, things on the whole slows down; everyone wants these few moments to last before the hectic beast that is autumn sets in. The end of summer is time for a breath, when most people understand that work can take a back seat, schedules can slacken, and those softly hazy days can truly be enjoyed. This is the time to truly relish time, summer, and especially our community. Enjoy these last summer favorites of events in Portsmouth before those lustrous fall days set in, to bring even more beauty with its cool winds and shifting colors.
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Sturgis Defined the Two Lives of Portsmouth
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
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From Garden Tours to Giving Back: Our Favorite Local Events For June
Cool nights and perfect days welcome us to the end of June, where there’s nothing quite like having a locally brewed beer out on the back deck after work. While most of us in Portsmouth depend on the tourist season, there is nothing better than these last few weeks where we have summer all to ourselves. With all that our town has to offer, and with this ideal weather, enjoying the outdoors while it’s still all ours is the best part of this month.
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Helen Pearson Illustrated Architecture
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
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Stunning Views, Historic Sites, Beautiful Music
After months of continuous snow, slate gray skies, and that endless marrow-deep chill in the air, Portsmouth’s classic New England “spring” has finally begun to pass and summer is mere days from being officially here. The days will lengthen, kids will be out of school, and nights will be filled with warm honey light and cool breezes by the sea. What better way to welcome the season than by being involved in the area you love best? Beat the tourists with some amazing insider events around town, and get the most out of these early summer days.
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Scouting Interior Design Trends at High Point Market
Twice a year, home design professionals from all around the world gather at the High Point Furniture Market in North Carolina. It’s the largest furnishings trade show in the world, and as they like to say, “if you can’t find it at High Point, it probably doesn’t exist.” We’re always on the lookout for fabulous furniture finds for our clients, so we sent our interior design team to scout out the latest and greatest. Here are a few trends that inspired us…
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Sarah Foster was Our First Tour Guide
Architecture Advocates: Sarah Foster
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
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April Events in Portsmouth, NH: Running, Dining & Relaxing
Though it may not feel like it just yet, spring is here! It’s in the breeze off the harbor, the crocuses peeking up around every foundation, the children pouring out of school doors at the end of each day. Soon enough, summer will rock Portsmouth into full swing . But until then, there is plenty in this town of ours to do as we begin to shake out of that hibernation and into that freshest of seasons.
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Lafayette Newell Pictured the Past
Architecture Advocates: Lafayette Newell
by J Dennis Robinson
Portsmouth is unique. New Hampshire’s only seaport, soon to celebrate its 400th anniversary, blends charm and culture with vitality and commerce. In this series historian J.Dennis Robinson profiles people who influenced, honored, pictured, preserved, and promoted the historic architecture of “The Old Town by the Sea.”
In an age when cameras are ubiquitous, it’s hard to believe. But besides a few sketches in word or pen, we barely know what old Portsmouth looked like. There are a few fuzzy images of buildings, but until the Civil War, most local photos are portraits of people, posing stiffly. While Lafayette V. Newell (1833 – 1914) took his share of studio shots, he also carried his heavy wooden camera, tripod, and fragile glass plates into the field.
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Step Into Spring With 4 Local Events
Spring is in the air, at last! Warmer weather and longer days is enough to make anyone anxious to get out of the house, and there are plenty of great reasons to do that in the coming weeks. Here are a few local events that we’re looking forward to….
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Smaller Home, Smaller Impact
Downsizing your home can be a smart move for a number of reasons. For empty nesters, there’s simply no need to expend the energy and money on the upkeep of a large house. For those who reside in an area where the cost of living is high, it might simply makes sense from a financial standpoint. In either case, downsizing is also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and live a more sustainable lifestyle.
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Now Hiring: Interior Design Coordinator
TMS is currently seeking a full-time Interior Design Coordinator to join their Interior Design Studio team. This person will work directly with the company’s Lead Interior Designer, assisting them with their daily duties. They will coordinate with furniture and fabric companies to set up new accounts, order samples, place and track orders. The applicant should have a working knowledge of drafting construction documents, selecting and specifying materials, and have 1-5 years of experience in architecture or interior design.
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