New Haven County

Randall House // 1927

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This handsome stone mansion in Derby, Connecticut, was built by industrialist Walter Randall (1868-1949) and his bride, Olive Vouletti Whitlock Randall (1870-1938), in 1927 on a tract of about 200 acres of farmland. Olive was a granddaughter of Isaac Merritt Singer, the inventor of the first practical sewing machine for home use, which made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. It is unclear as to who the architect was, but the stone residence was built in an English Tudor/Arts and Crafts style, possibly from stones taken from the 200-acre estate. The property was sold in 1950 to Harold and Ida Yudkin, who developed much of the land into a shopping center and housing development, but maintained this stone house and a smaller parcel surrounding it. That smaller parcel was purchased in the 2010s by a developer who restored the old house, and developed a small cul-de-sac of “green” homes on the aptly named, Singer Village Drive.

Immanuel St. James Episcopal Church // 1843

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The Gothic Revival style Immanuel St. James Episcopal Church of Derby is a landmark example of the style in this part of Connecticut and serves as the eastern anchor to the Birmingham Green in town. The church dates to 1843 and was built by The stone church was was built by stonemason, Harvey Johnson and Nelson Hinman, a carpenter. The land for the church was donated by Sheldon Smith and Anson G. Phelps, wealthy industrialists in town. The building originally had a wooden steeple, which was replaced by the present stone belfry in 1853. The church merged with another area congregation, which together, have preserved this significant structure, though the communications antennae on the battlements on the belfry is unfortunate.

Dr. Albert Phillips House // c.1875

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Dr. Albert W. Phillips (1838-1929) was born in Marcellus, New York, the son of immigrant parents from England. He studied medicine in the Midwest and later opened a medical practice in Rockport, Illinois, but in response to President Lincoln’s first call for volunteers, he returned to New York and enlisted as a private in the Union cause. He served as assistant surgeon with the 149th N. Y. Volunteers, where he saw action in many battles, including at Gettysburg. After the war, Dr. Phillips moved to the rapidly developing industrial city of Derby, Connecticut, where he opened a family practice. By the 1870s, he built this Stick style residence on Caroline Street. While working as a doctor of great esteem, Dr. Phillips was elected as the fifth mayor of Derby in 1901 and in 1903, was elected as a state senator.His home on Caroline Street in Derby maintains its unique entry porch and trusswork in the gables.

Smith-Curtiss House // c.1714

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The Smith-Curtiss House, which is possibly the oldest extant building in Derby, Connecticut, has sat vacant and decaying for years and is owned by the State of Connecticut. Believed to have been built sometime between 1714 and 1740, this historic saltbox farmhouse at 411 Hawthorne Avenue is slowly decaying due to lack of maintenance and funding. Early ownership is difficult to determine, but by the 19th century, the property was owned by Ms. Alice E. Curtiss. The old estate was sold by Ms. Curtiss in 1913 to Frances Osborne Kellogg, a businesswoman, philanthropist and environmentalist, as part of her 350-acre dairy farm and land-conservation holdings. The Smith-Curtiss House was used as a residence for the herdsmen who ran the farm nearby. Before her death in 1956, Frances deeded the property to the state as a public park, and allowed her head herdsman life-occupancy of this house for the remainder of his life. The State of Connecticut assumed possession of this house in 1981. The building has suffered from deferred maintenance since this period, with the State attempting to lease the building to tenants. I hope that local and statewide preservation groups can mobilize to secure grants and funding to restore this important property.

Osborne Homestead // c.1840

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This Greek Revival style farmhouse in Derby, Connecticut, was originally built around 1840, though little is known about its first occupants. In 1867, Wilbur Osborne (1841-1907), who owned and ran several industries in Derby, Ansonia and Bridgeport, and his wife, Ellen Lucy Davis, moved to the house, who together, also ran a dairy farm on their farmland. Their only daughter to survive to adulthood, Frances E. Osborne (1876-1956) took over the farm after her father’s death and became a prominent businesswoman. At age 16, Frances lost the vision in one eye due to an accident, and, as a result, never completed her public school education. Frances Osborne, in an era when women were denied leadership opportunities in the business world, succeeded through pure determination and an excellent business sense. Her achievements included becoming president of Union Fabric Company, vice president of Connecticut Clasp, and treasurer of the F. Kelly Company. She was also a founding partner of Steels and Busks of Leicester, England. She married Waldo Stewart Kellogg in 1919, and he took charge of the dairy, using selective breeding to make the herd “famous throughout New England for quality milk production.” Waldo and Frances Kellogg enlarged and remodeled the house to its current form between 1919 and 1925 adding wings and renovating the interiors in the Colonial Revival style. Waldo Kellogg died in 1928, but Frances stayed in the house until her death in 1956. Just before she died, she deeded her entire 350-acre (140 ha) estate, including Osbornedale, to the State of Connecticut. The state now operates the house and grounds as the Osborne Homestead Museum; the surrounding land comprises Osbournedale State Park.

Derby Neck Library // 1907

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The Derby Neck Library in Derby, Connecticut, is a beautiful example of an early 20th century library and one of a few Carnegie libraries in the state. The beginnings of the library began in 1897, when Wilbur F. Osborne and his wife, Ellen Davis Osborne, who lived at the nearby Osborne Farm, donated $50 to the nearby school to begin a small library in the building. After years of growth, Wilbur Fisk Osborne, requested funds from Andrew Carnegie, who was donating money to communities all across the country for such purposes, to build a new library for Derby Neck. In 1906, Carnegie donated $3,400 to the community, and planning began on the building. Sadly, Osborne died around the time the library opened in 1907. The building was designed in the Classical Revival style by architect, Henry Killam Murphy of Connecticut. Osborne’s daughter, Frances Osborne Kellogg, who inherited her father’s farmhouse nearby, directed the library until her death in 1956. The building was expanded in 1972 and again in 1999.

Derby United Methodist Church // 1894

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The former Derby United Methodist Church (now the Ghana United Methodist Church) is located at the northern edge of the Town Green in Derby, Connecticut, and is a great example of a ecclesiastical building constructed in the Romanesque Revival style. Its large round arches, tall square tower, and heavy detailing in brick and brownstone place it in the Romanesque Revival mode, all with stained glass throughout. The church was built in 1894 and dedicated in early 1895. The stately church building was designed by George Washington Kramer (1847-1938), an architect who designed many Methodist churches in the midwest and east coast.

Ousatonic Water Company Offices // c.1880

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The Housatonic River (also spelled the Ousatonic) is, after the Connecticut and Merrimac, the most powerful river in New England. Its location in Derby, Connecticut, was seen as a benefit to local businessmen, who after the Civil War, created the Ousatonic Water Company. The new organization made up of industrialists and businessmen, set off to complete the Ousatonic Dam (on the Housatonic River) towards the end of 1870. The dam precipitated the rapid development of the industrial villages of Birmingham (Derby) and Shelton. Aptly built on the corner of Main and Water streets, this handsome Italianate style masonry building was constructed by the 1880s for the Ousatonic Water Company for their company offices. The company was absorbed into the Connecticut Light & Power Company in 1927. The former offices have since been repurposed for a local business.

Sterling Opera House // 1889

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The Sterling Opera House in Derby, Connecticut, is a landmark performing arts venue and civic center in the state and significant as a rare and well-preserved building constructed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Built in 1889, the building is named for Charles A. Sterling, founder the former Derby-based Sterling Piano Company, who paid for much of the costs of construction and design for the building. For his namesake building, Charles Sterling hired architect H. Edwards Ficken, who also  assisted with the designs for the famous Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York, to furnish plans for the unique building. The Opera House was built to serve both political and entertainment needs for the community, with the lower two levels and the basement serving as City Hall offices and the police station from when it opened up until 1965. The auditorium was used for hundreds of shows and live musical performances in its day, with many world-famous performers such as Harry Houdini and Red Skelton taking the stage at the Sterling. Shows were held up until 1945 when the curtain closed for the last time. In the past decades the building has been largely vacant and kept alive by grants and a dream by the city to preserve this significant landmark, possibly for reincorporation as the City Hall. 

Second Congregational Church of Derby // 1845

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The Second Congregational Church of Derby was built in 1845 by members of the Birmingham Congregational Society, who grew tired of travelling across the river to the First Congregational Church in town. The present “downtown” of Derby was originally known as Birmingham and grew as the industrial center in the city, which historically was much larger than it is today. The Birmingham Congregation had this edifice constructed in the Greek Revival style, and it was added onto in 1859, 1889, and underwent alterations in 1915, when the facade was altered with Colonial Revival flourishes. The additions to the facade include the Palladian window, elliptical leaded window in the pediment, and panels with swags and wreaths. The top of the steeple was damaged by Hurricane Gloria in 1985 and removed, and was replicated in 2021.