Connecticut Historic Preservation

Sumner-Carpenter House // 1806

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I don’t think any state does the Federal style as well as Connecticut (Massachusetts is a close second)! This is the Sumner-Carpenter House, a high-style example of a Federal residence that is located on the backroads of the small town of Eastford, Connecticut. The house was built in 1806 for John Newman Sumner (1775-1831) who resided here until just before his death. The elaborate Federal period house was sold out of the family. After trading hands a half-dozen times, the property was purchased by David and Harriet Carpenter in 1881. The property remained in the Carpenter family for generations, and remained as such after Orlo Carpenter (1865-1938) was killed in the collapse of a barn during the hurricane of 1938. Architecturally, the house has all of the hallmarks of the Federal style, with the symmetrical main facade five bays wide, with a center entrance flanked by wide sidelights, and topped by a fanlight transom and corniced entablature. The window above the entrance is in the Palladian style, with a rounded center window flanked by narrower sashes. The house is very well preserved and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural quality and preservation.

Bartlett House and Barns // c.1840

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We featured Ashford, Connecticut, so now it’s time to explore some of neighboring Eastford! Settled in the early 1700s, the eastern portion of Ashford separated from its parent town in 1847, and became the town of Eastford. Prior to this, light industry, such as the production of cotton batting, twine, and wooden handles, complemented what would remain a predominantly rural agricultural community well into the 20th century. The winding back roads are lined with charming farmhouses bounded by rugged historic stone walls, making the town retain its rural feel. When driving through, I stumbled upon this postcard-worthy historic farm complex. Historic maps show that the property was owned by D. Bartlett in 1869, which appears to be Daniel Bartlett (1812-1898). The Bartlett property is enhanced by two historic barns sited nearby on a bluff overlooking the fields, which were likely once lined with trees or crops. By the 1900s, the property was owned by Nicholas and Clementine Dechand, the small road leading up to the farmhouse was named after the couple.

Ashford Academy // 1825

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Built in 1825, the Ashford Academy school building is the last remnant of what was Ashford, Connecticut’s once thriving town center. The taverns, church and businesses which were once located here have almost entirely been razed, leaving just this school building as the remaining structure. Ashford Academy was founded about 1825 when a group of citizens raised funds toward adding a second story to a schoolhouse then under construction in the town center. Only one teacher was hired per term, and some years there were no academy classes at all. The last academy session was held in 1875, though the building continued in use as a district school until 1949. The building is significant, not only for its siting and connections with the town’s early days, but also architecturally as a high-style school building for a more rural setting.

St. Philip the Apostle Church // 1937

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In 1921, the Catholic Diocese of Hartford purchased a Federal style farmhouse with 135-acres of land in Ashford, Connecticut, with the intention of establishing a new parish in the area. The Diocese assigned Father William J. Dunn, a Connecticut native and son of Irish Immigrants, to this daunting task. Since they had no church building at the time, Father Dunn partitioned off a section of his own home to serve as a chapel for about 100 worshipers, until the purpose-built St. Philip the Apostle Church was constructed in the 1930s. Father Dunn convinced summer resident Paul Chalfin to design the new building. Chalfin was not an architect, but he was an architectural designer whose best known building is the Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Florida. Chalfin was openly gay, and his hiring by the Catholic Church to design one of its churches in the 1930s is noteworthy. There were certainly several Irish immigrants and people of Irish descent in the congregation, but many parishioners came from small villages in Slovakia. The dome is a typical feature of churches in those villages and Chalfin included it in his design as a tribute to them. Due to material and construction costs during the Great Depression, members of the church largely built the church themselves with rocks acquired from stone walls and farms nearby. The church was completed in 1937.

Old Union Town Hall // 1847

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Union, Connecticut is the smallest (by population) town in the state and it was the last Connecticut town east of the Connecticut River to be settled, largely because of its rough terrain and poor soil. The small town of under 800 residents was incorporated in 1734 and named Union, likely named after the fact that the new town was formed of a “union” of different sections of land which were left over when the boundaries of surrounding towns, though it is still speculation. Union erected this Town Hall building in 1847 which was fitting for the town’s small (and then-declining) population at the time. The one-story clapboard building is vernacular and lacks much adornment of other town halls and institutional buildings of the time period in nearby towns. Eventually, the town built a new city offices building and the small town continues to maintain the former building to this day and it houses the Union Historical Society.

Jesse Lee Memorial Church // 1965

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Believe it or not, this church in Ridgefield Center was built in 1965! To know its full history, we have to go back to 1787, when the Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginnings in Ridgefield, the third in New England. Its first meeting was held – just 21 years after Methodism had been introduced into the U.S. from England. In 1789 Jesse Lee, a native of Virginia, was sent north as a circuit rider. His third sermon in Connecticut was preached at the Independent Schoolhouse on Main Street in Ridgefield. In the 1840s, a second meetinghouse in town was built, and the congregation grew. A third church and rectory were built on Main Street in 1884. When a large Main Street estate was available for a new, stately building, the congregation jumped at the opportunity, and hired ecclesiastical architect Harold Wagoner to design a refined, Colonial Revival style church, which was built in 1965. Executed in brick, the church has great verticality, created by the colossal columns supporting its pedimented portico and the spire that rises over an open belfry to a height of 149 feet. Set back from the street, the church still has a commanding presence.

David Scott House // 1714

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One of the oldest extant houses in Ridgefield, Connecticut is this charmer, which was moved not once, but twice! The house was built for David Scott (1678-1760), an Irish-born resident of the town, who purchased one of the town’s original Main Street house lots which sat undeveloped. Scott had abandoned his wife, Mary in Ireland, and settled in Ridgefield, entering into a new relationship with Elizabeth St. John. A woman scorned, Mary unexpectedly arrived in America and filed suit against her husband, citing Elizabeth as the “pretended wife of David Scott.” A judge awarded Mary three acres of her husband’s land. David Scott and his second wife lived at this 1714 house until they moved in 1740. His property (which included two enslaved Africans) was sold to Vivus Dauchy, a Frenchman. In the 1920s, as the Scott House section of Main Street commercialized, the owners relocated this house to Catoonah Street, building a commercial block in the former location. After numerous other owners, the most recent owner, The Ridgefield Preservation Trust (now the Ridgefield Historical Society) put it to use as a new historical society headquarters, after saving the Colonial-era home from demolition for stores and a parking lot! It was relocated to its current site and has been meticulously restored.

Ridgefield Train Depot // 1870

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In 1870, the Ridgefield Branch branch line of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad was built connecting the sleepy village of Ridgefield to Branchville train station via the main line. The line was an early risk, built to offer service to the wealthy New Yorkers who began arriving to spend their summers in Ridgefield. Many of these “summer people” had their own private railroad cars, with chauffeurs meeting them as they arrived, driving horse and buggies to bring them and their luggage to their estates located throughout the town. As travel shifted to personal automobile, ridership dropped in the early 20th century, and the branch was replaced by bus service in 1925. Freight service was scarce, and lasted longer, to 1964. The depot was sold to the Ridgefield Supply Company, who used the 1870 building as storage for decades until it was disassembled, moved and rebuilt by the Ridgefield Supply Company in 2015, as part of their expansion. The historic station today provides an important link to Ridgefield’s past.

Ridgefield Public Library // 1901

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The Ridgefield Public Library is an intriguing Beaux Arts style building from the turn of the 20th century. Built in 1901, the brick structure replaced the Smith Tavern, a 1798 frame structure built by Amos Smith right on Main Street. In 1900 the Smith Family sold the property to James N. Morris who had this library built in memory of his wife, Elizabeth, donating it to the town. Architect Raleigh G. Gildersleeve is credited with the design which is comprised of a one-story building constructed of brick with cast stone trim details and ironwork at the door. The library was given later additions, which are recessive in location and detailing to let the original building shine, as it should!

Berzelius Tomb // 1910

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Yale, like other Ivy League colleges, has a long and complex history of secret societies. The secret societies all are headquartered at their own buildings, called “tombs”. These are massive, very impressive structures without windows or signage and all share an unmistakable message with their architecture: “Private; keep out.” One of the lesser-known tombs at Yale is the Berzelius Tomb, completed by 1910 from plans by architect Donn Barber. The Berzelius was established in 1848 as a secret society and formerly was located in Berzelius Hall, a Romanesque style building. The tomb is sited on an difficult lot at the convergence of three main roads but holds its own architecturally as a highly ornamented box. This austere tomb is built of limestone, with a balustrade and detailed cornice at the roof, but the main attraction is the entrance, which is a double brass door with floral panels, all surrounded by a Classical surround. Above the entrance, a limestone panel showcases the Society’s insignia with fruit and flower swags.