Colonial Home

Reverend Graham-Howard Richmond House // c.1715

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Who doesn’t love a good Colonial house in Connecticut!? This house in Southbury was originally built at the beginning of the 18th century and was later altered and expanded in the fashionable Federal style at the end of the century. The house was built around 1715 by a Nathan Strong, who sold the property to Reverend John Graham who was the town’s pastor for over forty years. The house was later owned by antiques dealers Daniel and Marguerite Croucher. They used the former White Oak Schoolhouse (nextdoor) to store and sell some of their finds! After later owners, the property (which includes the schoolhouse) was purchased by Howard K. Richmond had been a graphic designer and art director in New York. He created the original layout and logo for Life magazine in 1936. He also did advertising and publicity work for Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdale’s, Elizabeth Arden and Saks Fifth Avenue. So many layers of history in over 300 years!

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.

Woodward Abrahams House // c.1768

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This Georgian-era Colonial home in Marblehead, Massachusetts was built around 1768 by Woodward Abrahams, who was appointed deputy postmaster in Marblehead ten years prior by Benjamin Franklin. Abrahams was one of the seven listed “Tories” mentioned in a town meeting of 1777, which were more loyal to the British crown than the colonies. After the war, he attempted to restore his political favor, which he did over decades, later being renamed a postmaster in 1797. The old Abrahams house was later owned by Thomas Tucker, who ran a dry goods business. In 1881, he converted the first floor to commercial space, giving the house its appearance we see today.

Homan-Devereaux House // 1764

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In 1764, Joseph Homan, a wealthy merchant, built this house on a lot that was formerly a “mowing field” in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The Georgian style home is of a more elaborate design, showcasing Mr. Homan’s wealth at the time. His wealth was not all acquired ethically, however. Joseph Homan was engaged in international trade, and enslaved Africans at his Marblehead home. In the Boston Daily Newsletters in September 1770, Homan posted a notice that Jack, one of his enslaved humans escaped. It read: “At Night, a Negro Man, named Jack, about 6 feet high, near 50 years of age, speaks bad English, and Born in Martinico [Martinique]; had on when he went away, a blue Coat with Mohair Buttons, a blue Jacket with black Glass Buttons, blue Breeches with white metal Buttons, and a red worsted Cap, but may have changed his Cloaths [sic], as he had more at Beverly.-Whoever shall take up said Negro, and deliver him to Mr. Brown, Deputy-Sheriff, in Salem, shall have Two Dollars Reward, and all necessary Charges paid them. All Masters of Vessels, and others, are cautioned against carrying said Negro off, as they would avoid the Penalty of the Law.” Homan would later sell the property to Elbridge Gerry, who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison, and who Gerrymandering is named after. Gerry gifted the house to his sister Elizabeth, who married Burrell Devereaux a year later. Burrell was a sea captain that later was a privateer.

Reverend Whitwell House // c.1756

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Another of the stunning gambrel-roofed Georgian homes in Marblehead is this beauty located on High Street in the village. This house was built around 1756 but is best known for its resident from 1766-1779, as the home of the Reverend William Whitwell (1737-1781), who was the fourth minister of the Old North Church, located just a stone’s throw away. Although this Georgian dwelling looks like a single-family house from the outside, it is actually divided into two houses with separate owners, likely since its construction. Later dormers crowd the roof, but its still a pretty amazing Pre-Revolution home in one of the most charming towns in New England!

Benjamin Coes House – “Tory Chimneys” // c.1785

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One of the hidden architectural gems of Kennebunkport is this Revolutionary-era house with some serious proportions. The house was built around 1785 by Benjamin Coes, a sailmaker from Marblehead, who settled in the burgeoning Kennebunkport in search of new work and opportunities. He married Sarah Durrell and the couple erected the seventh house in town, which is part of this property. For his work, Mr. Coes used the first two floors as his residence and the third floor was used as a sail loft, with an exterior staircase. A young boy, Joseph Brooks, would work in the loft and he would go on to marry Benjamin’s daughter, Sarah. The couple inherited the family house and retired here. The property was sold out of the Coes-Brooks Family when Maine State Historian, Henry Sweetser Burrage and his wife Ernestine purchased this house in 1917, which would be used as a guest house. The couple and lived in the house across the street. Ernestine Burrage, who was Chairperson of the Kennebunkport Chapter of the Red Cross, allowed the ladies of her chapter to gather there three times a week to roll bandages for the soldiers injured in battles overseas. It became the headquarters for the Kennebunkport Red Cross. It was likely Ernestine who had the chimneys painted white, which resembled the old Tory Chimneys in Revolutionary-era New England; where, when painted white, they served as a quiet signal which indicated that a home’s residents were loyal subjects of the British Crown.

Nathaniel Backus House // c.1702

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Welcome to Franklin, Connecticut, which frankly (pun intended) I had never heard of before driving through it not long ago! The town is located in New London County and was originally a part of Norwich, Connecticut and was called West Farms village. The town incorporated in 1786, creating its own town at that time, and the citizens decided to name their new town after Benjamin Franklin. I wonder if there are more place names in the United States after Benjamin Franklin or George Washington…

This is one of the oldest houses in the sleepy town of Franklin, and it was built around 1702 by Nathaniel Backus, about the same time he was married to his wife, Elizabeth. The Georgian Cape house features a large gambrel roof and a small gabled dormer. The house is representative of many of the earliest homes which once existed in this landscape in the early 18th century. The home appears to have been vacant for some time, and in 2022, was auctioned off. Its future is unclear at this time sadly.

Grindell Gardner House // 1772

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In 1772, Grindell Gardner built this Georgian gambrel-roofed house on land which was part of a large tract formerly owned by his
grandfather, Abel Gardner, whose own home sits a stone’s throw away. The charming Cape house is of an unusual type, having the gambrel on the front side only which slopes to a sort of saltbox at the rear, which originally contained the summer kitchen and a water closet. The house was altered in the 1890s with the addition of dormer windows and the removal of the original large central chimney, which was removed prior to the new dormers. By the 1960s, the house had only been owned by four families.


Hyde-Richardson House // c.1728

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The Hyde-Richardson House is one of roughly twenty remaining pre-Revolutionary War homes in Newton. The home was built for Timothy Hyde (1689-1756) after he inherited the property including 36 acres and a house from his father John Hyde. Timothy had two wives: Rebecca Davis who he married in 1718 and died in 1724 (seemingly in childbirth); and his second wife Sarah Whitmore, whom he married in 1727. The home was likely built soon after his second marriage. It is possible that parts of the original home on the site were reused for this structure. He served as Surveyor of Highways and Constable and in 1710 was drafted to serve with the militia in the successful siege of Port Royal in Canada. In 1761, Jeremiah Richardson bought the property and married his wife Dorcas Hall that same year. Richardson was a deacon and like Timothy, served as Surveyor of Highways. The property remained a farm until the 1930s when the automobile and suburban expansion reached the Oak Hill section of Newton. The farmland was ultimately was subdivided to create the surrounding neighborhood in the mid 20th century.

Hodge-Weeks House // c.1790

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One of the oldest extant houses in Dorset, Vermont, this gorgeous Federal Cape house adds so much charm to the village. The house is possibly the homestead of James Abel Hodge (1756-1826) who settled in Dorset from Connecticut after serving in the Revolutionary War. Hodge settled in the town when it was but wilderness, opening up a store in the village and helping the infant township grow into a thriving marble manufactory. This house was later owned by stonecutter I. W. Dunton and after, by “Grandma” Annette Weeks (1841-1925). Like many Cape houses, it probably evolved, adding wings to the right and left as the family inside grew.

Warren Dunton House // c.1890

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Much of Dorset Village was built in the early-to-mid 19th century, but there are some excellent examples of Colonial Revival and Craftsman homes and buildings. This Colonial Revival house was built c.1890 seemingly by Warren Robbins Dunton (1839-1902), who served as a Captain in the American Civil War. Captain Dunton seemingly built his home after moving the older house on the site back on the lot, building this house at the street. Great house, look at those chunky shutters that actually match the window openings!

Daniel Davis Homestead // 1739

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In 1739, recently married Daniel Davis (1713-1799) and Mehitable Lothrop Davis (1717-1764) inherited land in Barnstable Village from Mehitable’s father Thomas as their wedding present. The young couple broke ground on a new family home that year. Daniel Davis fought in the American Revolution and was was a selectman, assessor, town clerk, and treasurer for Barnstable and represented it at the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Council. Davis also held the position of Guardian of the Mashpee Indians, a position begun in 1746 when Massachusetts appointed white guardians to manage each Indian reservation in the province, the Mashpees protested. Daniel Davis died in the home in 1799. The house retains much of its original design from the multi-pane double-hung windows to the large, central chimney.

Merritt House // c.1725

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In 1725, Samuel Merritt, a fisherman, inherited some of his father’s land in Marblehead and built this house. After Samuel Merritt died in 1743, his second wife Mary, her daughters Mary and Elizabeth and her son-in-law James Dennis, lived in the house. They added the one-story lean-to, giving the house a saltbox roof in 1762. This house, and many others in Marblehead are the reason why human-scaled historic neighborhoods built before the automobile, are some of the best places to explore. Historic preservation equals tourism, which results in tax revenue and property values, stabilizing neighborhoods and cities from the ebbs and flows of the economy. Gotta love it!

Pearson-Bessom House // c.1720

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In 1720, James Pearson acquired a house lot on Windmill Hill in Marblehead, and he soon after built a house in the bustling harbor town. He lived in the house until 1734, when it was sold to a Giles Irwin. After Mr. Irwin’s death, it was conveyed to John Patton and John Bailey, both mariners, who likely split up the home inside. From this, fireplaces were punched into the central chimney inside, totaling 10 fireplaces in the home! John Bailey also worked as the Captain of Fort Sewall during the War of 1812. His wife Mary, served as temporary commander of Ft. Sewell after his death until a successor was appointed. The house eventually came under the ownership of siblings Carrie Florence Bessom (1867-1944) and her brother Frank Lewis Bessom (1870-1952). Florence operated an antiques store in town and Frank worked as a welfare commissioner. The home is a great example of a Georgian, Colonial-era home with a gambrel roof and even has the two (what I believe to be) separate coal doors in the raised stone foundation when the home was occupied by two families.

Henry Sherburne House // c.1770

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This house in the Hill District of Portsmouth, NH was built sometime between 1766 and 1770; however a sign posted on the house indicates an earlier date of 1725. Regardless, the house is one of the best-preserved Georgian homes in the city. The colonial-era home was apparently built for a Henry Sherburne, who was a member of some of New Hampshire’s leading families. By the 1900s, the property was the only in the city with a surviving scrolled pediment doorway from the period. Like other colonial homes in the old North End of Portsmouth, it was barely saved by the bulldozers and urban renewal when it was moved in 1972 to its present site.