Fairfield

Charles Gilman House // 1871

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Southport, the coastal village in Fairfield, Connecticut is an old house lover’s dream! Case-in-point, the Charles Gilman House. Charles Gilman, a Bridgeport lawyer, constructed this house on the ridge parallel to Main Street in Southport between 1871-1874. The building is a fine example of the Stick style of architecture, in which the decoration on facades and gable ends reflects the building’s internal structure. Gilman used the services of two New York architects, J. Cleaveland Cady and William H. Beers, to design the house and the later (1900) library addition, respectively. In the 20th century, the house was owned by Richard Joyce Smith, an attorney who was hired to guide the New Haven Railroad through a long and tricky bankruptcy reorganization ending it it being acquired by the Penn Central in 1975.

Samuel Bradley House // 1715

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Welcome to Southport, one of the most walkable and charming seaside villages in all of Connecticut, and it’s also in Fairfield! Southport became a leading coastal port on Long Island Sound, its ships carrying produce and goods back and forth to New York City. Sea captains houses, historic banks, and stunning churches line the streets in the village and are all in a great state of preservation. This is because much of the old village area is part of a local historic district, first established in 1967, where buildings from three centuries are protected for future generations. This house was built in East Haven, Connecticut by Samuel Bradley in 1715. The saltbox house is evocative of many early Colonial homes of Connecticut built at the time with a large central chimney and symmetrical facade. The house remained in the family until the mid-1940s when it was purchased, disassembled, shipped and reconstructed on this site on Harbor Road in Southport.

Hastings House // c.1941

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Many neighborhoods in New England held on to historical revival styles even when the International style and Mid-Century Modern homes began to proliferate all across the region. Some owners (even today) prefer traditionally designed houses to blend into their surroundings and historical context. This charming gingerbread Tudor Revival style house in Fairfield is one of them! The Hastings House was built in 1941 and designed by the powerhouse design couple of Cameron Clark (architect) and Agnes Clark (landscape architect) who designed and renovated properties all over Fairfield. The house is notable for its use of stucco with half-timbering, steeply pitched roofline, red tile roof, and more Colonial-inspired door treatments.

Sgt. John Smith House // c.1690

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According to local historians, this historic saltbox house was built around 1690 by John Smith, a volunteer Sargent in the Fairfield Trainband (a band of citizens trained as soldiers to supplement the regular army) or Militia. The position involved training, strategizing, storing military weaponry of the town, and being responsible for the preparedness of the community in the event of an attack by Native tribes, Dutch, or French forces. The house was later renovated in the Colonial Revival style, but has since been restored closer to its original design as an early First Period saltbox.

Sturges House // 1855

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One of the finest examples of Italianate residential architecture in the state of Connecticut can be found in Fairfield in the Sturges House. This property was built in 1855 for Henry Sturges Thorp a New York City merchant from a Fairfield family and his wife Julia Ann Thorp, likely as a summer home away from the city. Both Henry and Julia died in 1869 and the property was acquired by Frederick Sturges, the son of Jonathan Sturges a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who had a stunning early Gothic Revival mansion nearby. The Sturges House as it is now known, is a landmark example of the Italianate style with broad overhanging eaves, massive belvedere at the roof, round arched windows, and the tripartite blind windows capped by an elaborate cornice.

Frederic Bronson Barn // c.1895

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Not many buildings in Greenfield Hill, Fairfield, Connecticut showcase the neighborhood’s transition from farming community to affluent suburb quite as well as this stone barn turned house on Hillside Road. The stone barn was constructed around c.1895 for Frederic Bronson Jr. (1851-1900) a prominent New York attorney and treasurer of the New York Life and Trust Company which was founded by his grandfather, Isaac Bronson. In about 1892, Frederic demolished his ancestral home and hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a new country estate for his family. The house was called Verna and is also located in Fairfield. Today Verna is known best as the Fairfield County Day School. As with many wealthy men of the Gilded Age, Frederic wanted his rural retreat to also work as a gentleman’s farm, where he could have staff farm and tend to livestock on the expansive rolling hills bounded by historic stone walls. He appears to have had this barn built for his livestock shortly after the main house, Verna was completed nearby. Bronson died in 1900 and some of the property was later sold off. This property was acquired by a Charles Stillman in 1941 and it is likely him that converted the barn into a charming residence.

Harold C. Bullard House // 1927

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Some towns have the best (and high quantity of) examples of Colonial Revival houses in New England, and Fairfield, Connecticut is definitely one of those towns! This house on Barlow Road was erected in 1927 by Harold Camp Bullard (1879-1949), an engineer at the Bullard Machine Tool Company of Bridgeport, which was started by his father. The architect of the house is unknown, but the property stands out for its bold proportions, prominent Palladian window over the rounded entry portico, and rounded dormers at the gambrel roof.

Bradley-Wakeman House // c.1815

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While the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, Connecticut has some of the grandest houses (old and new) in the state, there are some more average size homes that just ooze charm and curb appeal. This example on Hillside Road, dates to the 1810s and was seemingly built by Alban Bradley (1767-1832) on land inherited by him from his late father, Seth Bradley. The family farmed on the land from this Federal period farmhouse until it sold out of the family by Alban’s only son, Burritt in 1825. Burritt sold the farm to Zalmon Wakeman who farmed on the many acres of valuable land there. Sometime before his death before the Civil War, the house was “modernized” with Italianate-style porch, which is supported by delicate cut trelliswork. This is a great illustration as to how modest renovations which apply up-to-date decorative details can be done to historic properties without compromising the original structure or its architectural integrity.

Bradley-Baldwin House // pre-1750

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WOW this is an absolute dream home! Tucked away on Meetinghouse Lane in the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, CT, you will find the Zalmon Bradley House. It was originally built around 1750 as a modest saltbox and later owned by Zalmon Bradley. The property was inherited by Zalmon’s sister, Sarah, who recently married Dudley Baldwin, an “ardent patriot”. The property was likely updated in appearance by Sarah and Dudley Baldwin giving the house its current four-sided hip roof, chimneys and an exquisite doorway. Dudley and Sarah died young in 1794 and 1795 (at ages 40 and 37 respectively), and the property was inherited by their only child, Abraham Dudley Baldwin. Abraham was watched for years by family, including his namesake, Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807), a senator, congressman, and key figure of the drafting and signing the U.S. Constitution. Abraham stayed in this house often during his time in Connecticut, watching after his nephew along with his sister, Ruth Baldwin Barlow. Abraham Dudley Baldwin as an adult resided in this house with his own family, and was largely engaged in local and state politics and agricultural pursuits. The Bradley-Baldwin House was restored a few years back, and looks amazing!

Reverend Richard and Lavinia Dey House // 1823

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Richard Varick Dey (1801-1837) was a young divinity student from New York City, attending the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, when he met Lavinia Agnes Scott (1805-1886). Dey was the son of prominent New York attorney Anthony Dey and Catharine Laidlie; Catherine’s father, the Rev. Archibald Laidlie, was the first minister called to preach in English in the Dutch Church in New York City. Richard and Lavinia fell in love and became engaged on December 27, 1820. However, Lavinia’s parents were opposed to Richard, and her father even asked Richard’s theology professors at Rutgers to try to discourage his pursuit of Lavinia. It did not work and they married in September 1822. After graduating from the Seminary in 1822, Richard was licensed by the Congregationalists and the young couple moved to Greenfield Hill, in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he preached from 1822-1829. Local history states that it was actually Lavinia who designed this house in 1823 for their family and oversaw the builders during its construction. The Federal style house stands out for its clear Dutch form with its roof projecting to create a recessed verandah, likely influenced by the couple’s New York/New Jersey upbringing.

Reverend Dey, Lavinia, and their children relocated to New York City, and Richard preached at a number of churches the before he died unexpectedly in 1837, leaving his 32-year-old widow with four young children. Lavinia remained in New York, where she served as the manager of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children for over 25 years. She never would remarry and died in 1886.