The stately Wentworth Gardner House overlooks Mechanic Street with imposing grandeur. A relic of Portsmouth’s colonial past, it was built in 1760, before the United States won independence. Despite its age, historic preservation has enabled the Georgian style structure to look as bold and magnificent as it did nearly 250 years ago. Wallace Nutting, an area resident during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is perhaps the person most responsible for its preservation.

Visitors today can still tour the home to experience what he described as “one place where time stood still.”

Nutting’s life and work will be celebrated throughout the summer at a series of events held at the Wentworth Gardner House. But to kick off those events, Pontine Theatre presents its original production of “Wallace Nutting’s Old America” from April 27 to May 13. The play is based on Nutting’s correspondences, autobiography and published writing. Four stories by area authors are woven into the performance, which documents Nutting’s enthusiasm for preservation as well as the eccentric characters and native quirks of the early 20th century Seacoast. Newspaper articles and Nutting’s own photographs are projected onto a screen and referenced in a number of scenes.

The performance on May 6 at the West End Studio Theatre was a few seats shy of being sold out. The audience included many members of Portsmouth’s community of preservationists and history enthusiasts. Greg Gathers played Nutting, who described himself “a clergyman with a love for the beautiful.” Gathers and M. Marguerite Mathews were co-creators of “Wallace Nutting’s Old America.” Mathews also directed the production and played several characters, including the president of the Portsmouth Historic Society, a former Portsmouth mayor and the owner of the historic Codfish home. Each character’s clothing is typical of the early 20th century, but they employ ornate masks to create dramatically different characters.

After leaving the clergy due to a nervous breakdown, Nutting began preaching “the Gospel of beauty” and became entranced with photographing old buildings. This hobby led to a lifelong passion for documenting and preserving historic structures. Nutting became involved in the Colonial revival that sought to celebrate and preserve vestiges of America’s colonial past before they were eclipsed by modernity.

Prior to World War I, Nutting opened his “Colonial Chain of Picture Houses,” a group of five fully restored and furnished Colonial homes in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These houses also formed the backgrounds for a series of hand-tinted photographs of young ladies in period costumes posing in front of various Colonial antiques. Selling his photographs in stores and catalogs across the country, Nutting estimated that he had more than 10 million pictures hanging in American homes.

Nutting was a furniture maker who produced pieces typified by “comfort, style, strength, beauty and sentiment.” He also took pride in his collection of authentic Colonial furniture. “The house is the shell. The furniture is the meat of the nut,” Nutting says in the play.

To aid in their exploration of Nutting’s time in Portsmouth and his efforts to establish historic landmarks, Gathers and Mathews use a heap of clever and illustrative props. Gathers displays a number of freestanding cardboard cutouts of the Wentworth Gardner House and other historic buildings. Multi-sided cloth panels are hung on what looks like an oversized towel rack. Both painted sides of each cloth correspond to a larger image. By flipping the panels all at once, a new background is created for each scene. During the last scene, Gathers and Mathews use two puppets to act out a historical romance between Captain John Paul Jones and Mary Hamilton.

The play itself is both entertaining and educational, reminding the audience, for example, that John Paul Jones oversaw construction of “The Ranger,” thought to be the first ship to sail under the American flag. Nutting also reminds the audience that Portsmouth was the northernmost town that George Washington visited in his early presidency.

Nutting spoke at universities and historical societies throughout the United States about the virtues of preservation and his love for antiquities. During “Wallace Nutting’s Old America,” Gathers addresses the audience as if he were Nutting trying to persuade some community group to save an important building. “There is mystery and challenge in a stair,” he says, describing the Wentworth Gardner House. “Every man is a poet when he muses by the hearth,” he notes when expounding upon the beauty of a Colonial fireplace. Gathers injects into his character the passion that Nutting felt for his work. He reminds the audience why living in Portsmouth is so unique and agreeable. “To those that love the old and picturesque, Portsmouth is most pleasing,” he says.

Remaining performances at West End Studio Theatre are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20, at 603-436-6660.