Farist House // 1894

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Joel Farist (1832-1904) emigrated to America with his family by the way of Sheffield, England, working originally as a laborer as a child. By his thirties, he formed the Farist Steel Company in Springfield, MA, later relocating to Bridgeport, CT in 1872. Due to his prestigious role and success, he became well-connected in Bridgeport, later becoming the first President of the Bridgeport Electric Light Company and Vice President of Bridgeport Hospital. He built this massive home in nearby Fairfield, CT, likely to get away from the polluted Bridgeport air, for a more bucolic area. The massive Queen Anne home he had built (likely as a second home) features prominent towers, a full-length porch, and a porte-cochere off the side. The home has been restored a few times recently, and a new (hopefully not final) paint scheme in yellow was recently painted on the front facade.

Chaffee House // 1931

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Herbert Almon Chaffee and Irma Chaffee had this Tudor home built by 1931 for their family in Fairfield, Connecticut. Mr. Chaffee was the Vice President and Assistant Treasurer of the City Savings Bank of nearby Bridgeport. Chaffee also at that time worked as Vice President of the A.W. Burritt Company, a lumber mill that produced building supplies and also operated as a real estate company that bought land and constructed on it. The home he had built clearly showcased the company’s work and features hallmarks of the English Tudor Revival style, with half-timbering, slate roof, and jettying (upper floor slightly overhanging the first).

Howard Lee House // c.1928

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Fairfield in the early 20th century began to shift as a suburban town with neighborhoods of large homes in planned districts. The proliferation of the personal automobile led to the “suburbanization” past streetcar suburbs closer to downtowns. Howard Greeley Lee (1893-1965) worked as Vice President of the Lee Brothers Furniture Co. based out of nearby Bridgeport. The company clearly did well as Howard had this large home built in the fairly uncommon (in New England) Spanish Revival style. It features a red tile roof, stuccoed siding, metal casement windows, and arched windows and front door, all commonly found in the style.

Burr Mansion // 1794

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Originally built in 1775, the first iteration of the Burr Homestead, home of Thaddeus and Eunice Burr, which actually saw the marriage of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, to Dorothy Quincy. Thaddeus was the cousin of the famous Aaron Burr, Jr., who was the 3rd vice-president of the United States alongside Thomas Jefferson as President. Aaron Burr Jr. is best-known today through his portrayal in the popular play “Hamilton,” where he shoots Alexander Hamilton in a duel. The house was rebuilt in 1794 in its former location in Fairfield, Connecticut after a fire by the British in Fairfield destroyed the first. The home was willed to Thaddeus’ son General Gershom Burr, who eventually sold the mansion to Obadiah Jones. Mr. Jones updated the home by, ““taking out the dormer windows and lifting the roof, taking away the porch and building the broad veranda with its lofty massive fluted columns”. The home was eventually gifted to the Town of Fairfield and is presently maintained by the Fairfield Museum and History Center.

DeForest House // c.1800

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At the beginning of the 19th century, Fairfield, Connecticut was slowly recovering from its destruction by the British at the end of the Revolution. By around 1800, a member of the DeForest family appears to have built this home, across from the Town Common, overlooking the recently completed Fairfield County Courthouse. Before the American Civil War, the home was significantly altered, with a central pavilion, new round arch windows, and a full-length front porch, showcasing early Victorian-era desire for detail. The house changed hands several times over the next century, at one point becoming a boy’s school from 1891 to about 1909. In 1930, the house was renovated by architect Walter Bradnee Kirby, who restored the home back to its Colonial past, showing how the pendulum of architectural tastes can change back-and-forth with every passing generation.

First Church Congregational of Fairfield // 1892

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The First Church Congregational in Fairfield, Connecticut is the sixth church to occupy this site! The first structure was built in 1640, and the current building was constructed in 1892. The third version of the church was burned by the British in 1779, while the fourth “meeting house” took nearly 42 years to finish and was partially funded by the sales of properties which formerly belonged to Tory sympathizers. The Romanesque Revival church was designed by architect J. Cleaveland Cady, who is best known for his design of the south entrance of the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Captain John Maltbie House // 1766

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On July 7-8, 1779, the Red Coats marched through Fairfield torching houses to punish the locals for seeking independence. They killed locals, destroying anything they could find on their way out, setting fires to homes and civic buildings around the Green. This home was built by Isaac Tucker, later sold to Jonathan Maltbie, sea captain involved with East Indies trade. He later would fight against the British during the Revolution, and after the war, was hired as captain on one of the first cutter ships built, the Argus. During the British invasion of Fairfield, they attempted to set fire to this home three times, but it seemed to never go up in flames when they returned. The tradition holds that an elderly servant, hiding upstairs, put out the flames and saved the house from destruction, after the British Troops torched it. Burn marks apparently remain inside to this day. Since the home was built, the front door facing the street was relocated to the side, and a large multi-pane bay window was installed in its place.

Old Fairfield County Courthouse // 1794

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Located at the Fairfield Town Green, the Georgian-style Fairfield County Courthouse stands as a reminder on the town of Fairfield’s Colonial-era history. The first courthouse at the site was built in 1720. After a fire destroyed the first (which housed the jail as well), a second structure was built in 1767. That second courthouse was the center of a thriving, wealthy village with a port just blocks away. In July 1779, the British landed in Fairfield and destroyed much of the town, harming its prosperity for decades to come (though it has clearly recovered since). In 1794, a new courthouse was built, also housing town offices. In 1870, it became solely a town hall (the County Court moved to Bridgeport years before) modified and altered in the Second Empire style to ‘modernize’ the building. As Colonial Revival resurged in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th- centuries, the town sought to bring back the Georgian style Town Hall building, in 1936 hiring architect Cameron Clark, to restore the building.

Sleepy Hollow Farm // c.1780

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Without question, this property is the most photographed site in the tiny town of Pomfret, Vermont, if not the state. The property dates to the late 18th century when John and Samuel Doten moved to the newly settled town of Pomfret Vermont, overlooking the growing town of Woodstock in the valley below. The two brothers acquired vast farmland on the hills of Pomfret and each built farmhouses adjacent to eachother, with Samuel getting elevated land and John developing the land sunken off what is now known as Cloudland Road into this stunning property. Sleepy Hollow Farm remained in the Doten family for centuries until the 1950s, when the owners sold the property to move to Woodstock and work for Laurance Rockefeller, the famous philanthropist and conservationist, who later donated his Summer home in Woodstock to the National Park Service. The property sold numerous times in the late 20th century, and is presently owned by Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and his wife, Billie. They are clearly great stewards to the property’s rich history and various outbuildings, and must not care too much to have swarms of photographers at the end of their driveway year-round!

Pomfret Congregational Church // 1847

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Located in North Pomfret, Vermont, the North Pomfret Congregational Church is one of many white clapboard church buildings constructed in the mid 19th century. Built in 1847 by the Church of Christian Brothers and the Congregationalists, the church was used by the two religious societies as a joint meeting house, each society holding services in the church on alternating Sundays. The Greek Revival style church features a prominent tiered, boxed bell tower with louvered lancet openings and a slender octagonal spire.

Abbott Memorial Library // 1905

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Gifted to the town of Pomfret by Ira Abbott, the Abbott Memorial Library is one of the most stunning little libraries in the State of Vermont. Given to his hometown as a memorial to his parents by Ira Abbott, who was at that time a State Supreme Court justice in the territory of New Mexico. Its architect, Henry M. Francis, used diverse materials — brick, granite, fieldstone, red birch, and pre-stressed concrete, to design the eclectic building. Capped with a red slate roof with terra cotta ridge tiles, the building stands out as one of the most unique buildings in the state and has been extremely well-maintained through its public-privately funded Commission.

Woodshed // 2017

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“Woodshed”. Image by Jim Westphalen.

In researching historic buildings in the tiny Vermont town of Pomfret, I was stunned to find images of this stunning Modern design in the town. Designed by the Birdseye Design Firm based out of Richmond, VT, “Woodshed” was completed by 2017 and serves as both a guest house and entertainment space for the main residence down the road. From the firm’s website, “The project is conceptually inspired by the vernacular woodshed, a familiar and iconic element in the Vermont landscape. The residence is composed of two asymmetric gable roof forms, akin to the traditional woodshed, connected by a central entryway”. The common thought on new construction is typically bland and “cookie-cutter” McMansions or boxy apartments, but this project is a testament to thoughtful Modern design found in even the smallest towns in the region!

Pomfret Records Building // 1904

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This little brick building may appear like a schoolhouse, but it was actually built to house the 1761 Town Charter for Pomfret, Vermont. The building is believed to have been built in honor of Hosea Doten (1809-1886), who was an engineer, school teacher, and land surveyor in Windsor County Vermont, with his former students constructing the building. It was built nearby the Town Hall and Clerk’s Office and features a fire-proof walk-in vault inside.

Pomfret Methodist Church // c.1850

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Located across the street from the Congregationalist Church (now Town Hall) in Pomfret Center, the Methodists in Pomfret Vermont built this church building just a couple years after their neighbor was completed. Replicating the Greek Revival style seen across the street, the building showcases a templed form with projecting portico, as an excellent vernacular example of the style. Similar to its neighbor, this church was sold to the Town of Pomfret in the 1880s, modernized in the early 20th century, and converted to a district schoolhouse.

Pomfret Town Hall // 1845

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The quaint town of Pomfret, Vermont sees flocks of “leaf-peepers” and Instagrammers every Fall who are in awe of the natural scenery and historic farms seen there. The town was first settled in 1770 when Bartholomew Durkee travelled from Pomfret, Connecticut, along with his family and friends and named the town “New Pomfret” at first to show their roots in Connecticut. The tiny town grew to its peak population in 1830 at just under 1,900 residents, declining steadily over time to roughly 900 today, greatly adding to the rural character of the town.

In Pomfret Center, the local Congregationalists sought a new place of worship and had this structure constructed as their church in 1845. Local builder Eli Buch constructed the Greek Revival edifice with its projecting portico, doric columns, and corner pilasters. As nearby Woodstock Vermont grew, many families moved there and the church sold their building to the Town of Pomfret in 1872 and the building has since been used as Pomfret’s Town Hall.