Connecticut House

Oldfield – John Moseley House // 1818

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Federal style houses are among my favorite styles! From the classical design details to the symmetrical facades, there are so many great examples of Federal style houses in New England. This house in Southbury, Connecticut dates to 1818 and was built by John Moseley (1775-1876), who lived to be 100 years old, and married twice, outliving both of his wives. According to a family history, Moseley personally went to Maine to pick out the wood used to build his house as there were no large trees left in the area when house construction began in 1818. In the early 1900s, the house was updated with a rear addition, built from a structure moved from across the street and attached to Oldfield, and with the addition of the large Colonial Revival style portico at the front entry. The house has been a bed & breakfast since the 1990s, originally called Cornucopia at Oldfield, it is now known as the Evergreen Inn.

Curtiss-Fabrique House // 1810

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Located on Main Street in Southbury, this stately Federal style mansion stands out as one of the most unique and interesting in town! The house here was originally built in the 1760s as a more modest Georgian house by members of the Curtiss Family, one of the earliest families to settle in the area after land here was purchased from the Potatuck Native Americans. In the early 19th century, the house was modernized in the fashionable Federal style, giving the house the present appearance. The facade is dominated by an excellent doorway with a projecting Palladian portico above. The property was later owned by Benjamin Fabrique.

Benjamin Osborn House // c.1808

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This charming cottage shows that you do not need a stately or elaborate house to have some serious curb appeal and house envy. This is the Benjamin Osborn House, located in Southbury Connecticut. The house was built in the early 20th century for newlyweds Benjamin B. Osborn and Sarah Stiles, who married in 1808. As a gift to the couple, Sarah’s father Ephraim Stiles, who lived in a house across the street, seemingly deeded a portion of his property for his daughter and son-in-law to build their family. Tragically, Sarah died one year later, possibly during childbirth. Benjamin would marry another of Ephraim’s daughters soon after… messy. The home is a four-bay Cape, with its off-center entrance sheltered by a Colonial Revival hip-roofed portico supported by Tuscan columns.

Oatman Hotel // 1806

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It always amazes me that even getting lost driving the winding roads in obscure places, can reveal some of the most magical old buildings and history to uncover. This stunning Federal style mansion was built in 1806 and is located on the busy Southford Road in Southbury, Connecticut. The road was a span along a turnpike was the great thoroughfare between New Haven and Litchfield, Connecticut. Present-day Southbury was about halfway between the two, so lodging was always busy here. Knowing this, brother’s in-law, John Thompson and Benjamin Hurd had this turnpike hotel built to capitalize on the flow of weary travelers. Charles R. Oatman (1827-1904), who married Orinda T. Hurd, the daughter of Benjamin Hurd, acquired the property in 1870 and operated the hotel under his name as the Oatman Hotel. After successive owners, the name remained. It was sold in the 20th century and was converted back to single-family use, and maintains much of its original fabric, including a barn at the rear of the property. It could definitely use a new coat of paint!

Reuben Curtiss House // c.1840

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The Reuben Curtiss House is a classic example of a Greek Revival farmhouse from the mid-19th century, located in Southbury, Connecticut. Local history states that a house built here by Israel Curtiss (1716-1795) who farmed the land with his large family. In 1798, Israel’s large estate was distributed among three of his sons, Joseph, Benjamin, and Reuben. This was complicated by the fact that in the same year, both Joseph and Benjamin died, leaving the entire estate to Reuben. From about 1840 and possibly until he sold the property in 1866, Reuben B. Curtiss ran an academy here, known as “Buck Hill Seminary for Boys.” It was a large operation, as suggested by the size of the addition and confirmed by the 1850 federal census. At that time there were 23 students in residence, ranging in age from 8 to 12, along with four adult supervisors. It was likely that the former farmhouse was expanded and the present 1840s Greek Revival block was added which now is the main facade.

Ms. Sarah Wakeman House // 1871

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The Southport Chronicle reported on March 1, 1871 that “W. W. Wakeman, is about to erect, on the Hill, a very handsome residence”. The house would be built on Harbor Road in Southport, and was for his sister-in-law, a widow, Sarah Ann Fowler Wakeman and her two daughters, Mary and Frances. The Bridgeport-based architectural firm of Lambert & Bunnell (made up of Henry A. Lambert and Rufus W. Bunnell) teamed up to furnish the plans for this stately Second Empire style mansion. Sarah died in 1872, and the house was occupied by her daughters until 1913.

Oliver Perry House // 1843

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This imposing Greek Revival house is located in Southport and is one of a handful of the stunning Classically designed mansions near the waterfront. The house was built in 1843 for Oliver Perry a Yale Law School graduate who did not work in law, but became a successful merchant and businessman instead. Oliver H. Perry established his fortune as a shipowner and a merchant and was Treasurer and Director of the Southport National Bank. He was active in civic affairs and served as speaker of the house of the Connecticut General Assembly and commissioner to survey and settle the border dispute between Connecticut and New York. His Southport house is a stunning example of the Greek Revival style in the temple form with a two-story projecting pedimented portico supported by four Doric columns.

Hastings House // c.1941

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Many neighborhoods in New England held on to historical revival styles even when the International style and Mid-Century Modern homes began to proliferate all across the region. Some owners (even today) prefer traditionally designed houses to blend into their surroundings and historical context. This charming gingerbread Tudor Revival style house in Fairfield is one of them! The Hastings House was built in 1941 and designed by the powerhouse design couple of Cameron Clark (architect) and Agnes Clark (landscape architect) who designed and renovated properties all over Fairfield. The house is notable for its use of stucco with half-timbering, steeply pitched roofline, red tile roof, and more Colonial-inspired door treatments.

Sturges House // 1855

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One of the finest examples of Italianate residential architecture in the state of Connecticut can be found in Fairfield in the Sturges House. This property was built in 1855 for Henry Sturges Thorp a New York City merchant from a Fairfield family and his wife Julia Ann Thorp, likely as a summer home away from the city. Both Henry and Julia died in 1869 and the property was acquired by Frederick Sturges, the son of Jonathan Sturges a wealthy businessman and philanthropist who had a stunning early Gothic Revival mansion nearby. The Sturges House as it is now known, is a landmark example of the Italianate style with broad overhanging eaves, massive belvedere at the roof, round arched windows, and the tripartite blind windows capped by an elaborate cornice.

Frederic Bronson Barn // c.1895

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Not many buildings in Greenfield Hill, Fairfield, Connecticut showcase the neighborhood’s transition from farming community to affluent suburb quite as well as this stone barn turned house on Hillside Road. The stone barn was constructed around c.1895 for Frederic Bronson Jr. (1851-1900) a prominent New York attorney and treasurer of the New York Life and Trust Company which was founded by his grandfather, Isaac Bronson. In about 1892, Frederic demolished his ancestral home and hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a new country estate for his family. The house was called Verna and is also located in Fairfield. Today Verna is known best as the Fairfield County Day School. As with many wealthy men of the Gilded Age, Frederic wanted his rural retreat to also work as a gentleman’s farm, where he could have staff farm and tend to livestock on the expansive rolling hills bounded by historic stone walls. He appears to have had this barn built for his livestock shortly after the main house, Verna was completed nearby. Bronson died in 1900 and some of the property was later sold off. This property was acquired by a Charles Stillman in 1941 and it is likely him that converted the barn into a charming residence.

Harold C. Bullard House // 1927

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Some towns have the best (and high quantity of) examples of Colonial Revival houses in New England, and Fairfield, Connecticut is definitely one of those towns! This house on Barlow Road was erected in 1927 by Harold Camp Bullard (1879-1949), an engineer at the Bullard Machine Tool Company of Bridgeport, which was started by his father. The architect of the house is unknown, but the property stands out for its bold proportions, prominent Palladian window over the rounded entry portico, and rounded dormers at the gambrel roof.

Bradley-Wakeman House // c.1815

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While the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield, Connecticut has some of the grandest houses (old and new) in the state, there are some more average size homes that just ooze charm and curb appeal. This example on Hillside Road, dates to the 1810s and was seemingly built by Alban Bradley (1767-1832) on land inherited by him from his late father, Seth Bradley. The family farmed on the land from this Federal period farmhouse until it sold out of the family by Alban’s only son, Burritt in 1825. Burritt sold the farm to Zalmon Wakeman who farmed on the many acres of valuable land there. Sometime before his death before the Civil War, the house was “modernized” with Italianate-style porch, which is supported by delicate cut trelliswork. This is a great illustration as to how modest renovations which apply up-to-date decorative details can be done to historic properties without compromising the original structure or its architectural integrity.

Reverend Richard and Lavinia Dey House // 1823

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Richard Varick Dey (1801-1837) was a young divinity student from New York City, attending the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, when he met Lavinia Agnes Scott (1805-1886). Dey was the son of prominent New York attorney Anthony Dey and Catharine Laidlie; Catherine’s father, the Rev. Archibald Laidlie, was the first minister called to preach in English in the Dutch Church in New York City. Richard and Lavinia fell in love and became engaged on December 27, 1820. However, Lavinia’s parents were opposed to Richard, and her father even asked Richard’s theology professors at Rutgers to try to discourage his pursuit of Lavinia. It did not work and they married in September 1822. After graduating from the Seminary in 1822, Richard was licensed by the Congregationalists and the young couple moved to Greenfield Hill, in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he preached from 1822-1829. Local history states that it was actually Lavinia who designed this house in 1823 for their family and oversaw the builders during its construction. The Federal style house stands out for its clear Dutch form with its roof projecting to create a recessed verandah, likely influenced by the couple’s New York/New Jersey upbringing.

Reverend Dey, Lavinia, and their children relocated to New York City, and Richard preached at a number of churches the before he died unexpectedly in 1837, leaving his 32-year-old widow with four young children. Lavinia remained in New York, where she served as the manager of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children for over 25 years. She never would remarry and died in 1886.

Pomeroy-Belden House // c.1758

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This stunning gambrel-roofed Georgian manse is located on Bronson Road in Fairfield’s Greenfield Hill neighborhood, a well-preserved in the northern part of town with large historic homes on large lots. The Pomeroy-Belden House was built in about 1760 for Seth Pomeroy (1733-1770), the son of Seth Pomeroy Sr. (1706-1777) a gunsmith and soldier from Northampton, Massachusetts, who served in King George’s War, the French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War (at nearly seventy years old). Seth Jr. graduated from Yale in 1753, and would accept the call as the minister of the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church from 1757 until his death in 1770. He had this stately house built for his family during his time as minister. After his death, the house was purchased by Captain David Hubbell who used it as a store until it was purchased by Reverend William Belden, who served as pastor of the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church from 1812-1821. The Georgian mansion features a central double-door entry with traditional door surround, later shingle siding and a gambrel, wood shingle roof punctuated by three small dormers.

Roswell B. Fitch House // c.1850

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Roswell Burrows Fitch (1833-1908) was born in the seaside village of Noank to parents Elisha and Mary P. Fitch. At twelve years of age he commenced to be self-supporting, and from then until he was fourteen, occupied a clerkship in a general store in town. In his teens, summers were spent aboard ships fishing for a livelihood, and his winters attending school. Upon completing his education, he became clerk in a store, and was afterwards engaged to assume the management of a union store which was erected for the special purpose of being placed under his charge. The store, located on Main Street in Noank, was eventually fully purchased by Fitch, and he did well financially. He may have had this house built or merely bought it years after it was built in the mid-19th century. When he sold his business in 1890, he “Victorianized” the classically designed Greek Revival style house with Queen Anne embellishments. The renovations in 1890 included an octagonal tower, an elaborate porch, a two-door entry likely replaced the sidelights and transom, brackets and applied decoration at the gable and cornice, and a Palladian window which was a Colonial-inspired addition. Hodge-podge or eclectic houses are some of the most fun!