Chester VT

Comfort C. Dresser House // 1799

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Built just before the turn of the 19th century, this handsome five-bay vernacular Federal period house is located on the charming Main Street of Chester, Vermont, and is one of the oldest extant houses in the village. The residence was built in 1799 by Comfort Carpenter Dresser (1777-1856), who with his family, moved from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the town of Chester, where he found work as a carpenter and housewright, a fitting profession due to his middle name. The family resided here for nearly 30 years until they moved to New Hampshire. The beautiful home, painted a bright white sometime in the 20th century, features a front door with sidelights, 12-over-12 sash windows, and a symmetrical facade, common for the style. 

Robbins & Marsh Store // c.1858

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Located in the Chester Depot Village, a commercial and civic assortment of buildings constructed in the mid-19th century between the often feuding North and South villages in Chester, Vermont, this handsome commercial building contributes to the character and history of the once thriving commercial center of town. Built across the tracks of the Central Vermont Railroad from the town’s depot, this Italianate style building dates to about 1858 when a P. H. Robbins opened an all-in-one store, selling everything from groceries to hardware and building products. Mr. Marsh was later joined by Frederick W. Marsh, who entered into the business, then named the Robbins & Marsh Store. The business thrived with the close proximity to the railroad depot with later alterations to the building including the addition of plate glass storefronts and a massive side awning porch. Business slowed after WWII, as rail service slowed and ultimately stopped in town. Today, the handsome building remains as an important visual anchor to the depot village. 

Chester Depot // 1872

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The first public train arrived in Chester, Vermont, on July 18, 1849, and in December, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad opened the first rail line across Vermont linking the Connecticut River valley at Bellows Falls and Lake Champlain at Burlington. A fire destroyed the first station in 1871, and the Vermont Central Railroad built the current station within a year. The State of Vermont purchased the line in 1963, leasing it in part to the Green Mountain Railroad. Exceptional in Vermont, this brick station retains its high-style Italianate design and continues in railroad use. The station can be classified as Italianate/Romanesque in style and has a corbeled cornice, windows capped by brick hood moldings, and a projecting trackside awning. It appears that the station is not in active use, does anyone know more?

Chester Academy – Chester Historical Society // 1884

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The town of Chester, Vermont, is one of the best small towns in the state for architecture lovers! Don’t believe me? I will prove it in this upcoming series. Located in Chester Village, the town’s center, this handsome brick building set off the main street, was built in 1884 as the town’s high school, replacing an 1814 private academy formerly on the site. The private academy closed in 1881, and the building was sold to the town, who by 1884, demolished the original structure and erected the current Italianate style building. The building served as the town high school until 1911, when a new high school was constructed nearby. The elementary and junior high school operated from here until the 1950s, when a modern school was constructed in town. Since 1950, the former academy building has been used by the Chester Art Guild, and currently is leased from the Town by the Chester Historical Society. The structure retains its architectural character down to the segmental arched windows and cupola.

Snell House // 1849

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Amasa Snell (1794-1850) and his son Nelson built this house, just a year before his death. The house is yet another example of the vernacular snecked ashlar construction method, which Chester, Vermont is known for. This house is located in the rural Trebo section of town, an area where many of the masons who built these snecked ashlar homes lived. It stands out for the use of light and dark stone laid in alternating rows. This house is perfect!

Durand House // 1861

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One of the most visually striking homes in little Chester, Vermont, is the Durand House. Sited prominently on a hill, the 1861 home resembles a wedding dress in bright white with intricate spindles that look like lace. The house was seemingly built for Urban Durand, one of the proprietors of the successful Durand Brothers Market in Chester village. The home has an elaborately trimmed full-front porch with a second-story polygonal balcony, and a three-story corner tower with a shallow mansard roof, all possibly later additions. The house stands out in the village, which is largely dominated by classical Federal and Greek Revival houses.

Blaisdell House // 1868

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This Italianate style house was built in 1868 for Augustus and Laura Blaisdell, natives of New Hampshire who moved here to Chester, Vermont, in 1860. The Blaisdell’s operated a company that manufactured fireproof roofing and paint at their home base in New Hampshire, and built this building on a prominent site in the village to promote sales, which were conducted from a storefront on its ground floor. The location of the Blaisdell House alongside the tracks of the local railroad depot, was strategic in order to provide ease in the transportation of goods to the village of Chester Depot from the New Hampshire-based headquarters of A.H. Blaisdell & Co.The home and store is significant in the local economy and is itself, a significant example of the Italianate style in town.

Chester Tin Shop // c.1830

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Located on the edge of the Chester Town Green, you can find this beautiful Federal style commercial building. The use of blind arches at the facade is a fairly common feature found in brick Federal style buildings in Vermont. The structure was built around 1830 and has served a variety of uses through its existence, the most notable being the tin shop owned by various members of the Miller and Hadley families that sold stoves and hardware during the latter half of the 19th century. The tin business in New England grew rapidly after 1820. Tin shop owners imported tinplated sheet iron from Great Britain, shaped it into a variety of forms, and distributed their finished goods through peddlers and country stores. They also sold tinware in their shops. Colanders, dippers, dish kettles, funnels, measures, and pans were in greatest demand. Other common items included lanterns, foot stoves, teapots, coffeepots, “tin kitchens”, skimmers, and sconces. After its use as a tin shop, the building was occupied as a telephone exchange and electric utility company office. It presently is home to an antique store.

Gingerbread Apartments // c.1850

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Built in the mid-19th century this former home in Chester, VT, exhibits the range in tastes seen from the Classically inspired Greek Revival style to the ornate and over-the-top Queen Anne style. The original 1850 Greek Revival design of the house survives in its temple form and classical details, augmented by a visually dominant overlay of Queen Anne features. The house was acquired sometime after 1870 by the Haselton family, whose daughter Hattie married John Greenwood. The Greenwoods undertook a major renovation of the building about 1900, adding the elaborate front porch and other features, giving it the wedding cake or lace-like appearance we see today. The home was converted to apartments in the 1960s, but retains much of its architectural details, it is best known as the Gingerbread Apartments.

Chester Town Hall // 1884

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The town of Chester, Vermont, was originally chartered by New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth as Flamstead, in 1754. The terms of the charter were not met and the town was re-chartered as New Flamstead in 1761. In 1766, a patent was issued by New York that changed the name of the town to Chester, after George Augustus Frederick, the Earl of Chester and the eldest son of King George III. Vermont in the 18th century was contested land claimed by both New Hampshire and New York, unsettled until the colonists in the area decided to petition for their own statehood. The town of Chester voted to keep their name. The town grew with two distinct villages, Chester Village and Stone Village. Both villages were very distinct in terms of politics, religious affiliations, and architecture. When the railroad cut through the town, the route passed between Chester’s North and South villages, and Chester Depot village emerged right in the middle. The establishment of a third village by the railroad depot, offered neutral ground on which to erect a town hall, as before 1884, town meetings were held alternately each year in the two opposing villages. The large town hall building in Depot Village is a late example of Greek Revival and Italianate design.