Federal Style

Abner Richmond House // c.1803

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This high-style Federal house sits across from the former Westford Baptist Church in Ashford, Connecticut. The house was built around 1803 for Abner Richmond (1761-1834) and his wife Eunice, who purchased 92-acres of land here one year earlier. Abner descended from John Richmond (1594-1664), one of the original white settlers of Taunton, Massachusetts in 1637. About ten years after he built his farmhouse, the town of Ashford paid the Richmond’s money for hardship caused by laying out a road right in front of the homestead. This 1812 occurrence possibly allowed the couple to invest further into the property, where they converted some of the rooms into a tavern, which was later accessible by the new Boston and Hartford Turnpike. The turnpike began in East Hartford and made its way through Ashford before winding its way to Boston. The house was documented as having 19th century stenciling on the walls, which survived underneath wallpaper (go figure). The new owners have clearly given the Richmond House some love and care, down to the perfect paint color.

Mathewson-Dunn Residence // c.1815

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This Federal-style house sits on the heavily trafficked Pompey Hollow Road in the center of Ashford, Connecticut. Early history of the residence is sparse, but by the 1860s, it was the home to Charles Mathewson (1812-1880), who came to Ashford from Woodstock in 1850 and bought a saw and grist mill nearby. The mills were operated here until 1865, when he was succeeded by the firm of Lombard & Mathewson, manufacturers of fertilizers and wholesale dealers in agricultural implements. After successive ownership, the property, which included a 135-acre farm, was purchased by the Catholic Diocese of Hartford in 1921 with the intention of establishing a new parish in the Ashford 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, he 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 built in the 1930s. The Federal style house here has an elaborated center bay which includes the entrance on the first story and a Palladian window on the second story. The main entrance is flanked by pilasters with Doric capitals which are replicated at the corners of the residence as well.

Church Farm // 1821

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Here is your reminder that you can find amazing, high-style historic houses even on the most remote back roads in New England! This is Church Farm, located in Ashford, Connecticut, in the state’s Quiet Corner (northeast section of the state). The main part of the Church Farm house was built by Zalmon Aspinwall (1769-1844) and Mary Snow Aspinwall, his wife, in 1821; it is believed the house incorporates an earlier dwelling built in 1791 by Robert Snow in the ell. The Aspinwalls were a well-to-do Mansfield Center family, with more than 1,500 acres of land. Zalmon Aspinwall, who was related by marriage to the Snows, also held mortgages on several other Ashford farms. In the 1840s the house came into the hands of Lucinda Aspinwall Church (1807-1876) and her husband John Church. John was primarily a farmer, with 135 acres under cultivation in 1850, probably most as pasture and fodder for his 140 sheep, with which he raised wool. Subsequent generations of the Church Family retained ownership of this property Church Farm as the family homestead and country retreat. Servant rooms were added to the ell, and a large barn (said to be the second largest in Windham County) were built in the 1890s. The large Colonial Revival portico, added c.1930 to replace Victorian verandas, completed the house’s transformation into a country estate. The property was most recently gifted to the Eastern Connecticut State University Foundation, Inc., in 2007 by Joseph and Dorothy (Church) Zaring, and the house and grounds are maintained by the University.

Samuel Read Hall House // 1831

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Samuel Read Hall (1795–1877) was an American educator, who in 1823, started the first normal school, or school for training of teachers and educators, in the United States. He helped found the American Institute of Instruction in 1829, the oldest educational association in the U.S. He served as pastor in Brownington and Granby, Vermont from v 1846 to 1875 and would also become the principal and teacher at the Orleans County Grammar School in Brownington. He lived in this Federal style house in the village until his death. The Hall House is now a part of the Old Stone House Museum and Historic Village. Fun Fact: Samuel Read Hall is said to have been the earliest person to introduce the blackboard to the American classroom!

Alexander Twilight House // c.1830

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The highlight of the town of Brownington, Vermont is the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village, a collection of amazing 19th century architecture set amongst the rolling hills of the Northeast Kingdom. One of the buildings in the village is this structure, the Alexander Twilight House. Alexander Twilight (1795–1857) was born in Corinth, Vermont, on September 23, 1795. He was raised by a fair-skinned mother, Mary Twilight, and a mixed-race father, Ichabod Twilight. Twilight entered Middlebury College in 1821 and graduated in 1823, possibly making him as the first person of color to graduate from an American college. Alexander Twilight accepted the call and moved to Brownington to serve as the town’s reverend.  He also served as headmaster of the Orleans County Grammar School.  To meet growing enrollment needs, he designed, raised funds for, and built the first granite public building in Vermont, Athenian Hall, which contained classrooms and a dormitory. He had this Federal style house built in the village, large enough to house some students in his home. Before building his Federal style home, he lived in a much smaller, vernacular home, which was added onto the rear of this home as an ell (later separated by the museum). Elected to the Vermont General Assembly in 1836, Twilight became the first African American to serve in a state legislature in the United States. In 1847, after conflicts with the Orleans County school administrators, Twilight moved to Quebec, Canada for five years, but then returned to serve as headmaster in Brownington.  He died on June 19, 1857 and is buried in the Brownington churchyard. 

Original Twilight House

Cornè House // 1822

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What does this house and the tomato have in common? Keep reading to find out!

Michele Felice Cornè (1752-1845) grew up in Naples Italy and became disillusioned with the Napoleonic Wars. After the French occupation of Naples in 1799, he fled and was brought to the United States on the ship Mount Vernon, commanded by Elias Hasket Derby Jr., and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. Cornè moved to Boston in 1807 and lived and worked there until 1822 when he moved to Newport, Rhode Island, purchasing a property containing a barn. Cornè either had the barn renovated into this 1822 house or built the Federal period house from its timbers. Here, Cornè would paint many maritime scenes as murals in homes and businesses. However, his true contribution to his adopted country was convincing his neighbors to eat the tomato. While in Newport, it is reputed that Cornè introduced the tomato into the American diet. In early 19th century New England tomatoes were thought to be deadly poison. Cornè was accustomed to eating tomatoes in his native land and would regularly eat them without ill effect and, thus, allayed the fears of the residents of his adopted country. Today, the popularity of the tomato in American cuisine can be credited (in part) to Cornè and his love for the tomato.

Pacific National Bank // 1818

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Whaling captains and crew upon returning to the island of Nantucket, would be flush with cash and goods and needed a safe and secure institution to hold their earnings. By the late 18th century, the depletion of the whale population in the Atlantic required whaling vessels to travel further and further in search of oil to fill the barrels in their holds. Ships began sailing to the Pacific and due to the distance, would be out at sea for years rather than months. Money from the Pacific voyages flowed back to the island, which soon required real banking facilities, and the Pacific Bank was established in 1804 and immediately prospered. The bank erected this stately brick building at the end of Main Street Square. Details such as the blind arches filled with sandstone panels that surround the building’s windows, the semi-circular Ionic entry portico and the high brown sandstone stoop with wrought-iron railings are unique on Nantucket and among the finest examples of their type in the region. Also interesting about the building is the fact that it contained living quarters for the cashier whose presence was intended to provide security. The building is now (of course) home to a Bank of America.

West-Hathaway House // c.1800

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Located on Mill Street, overlooking Queen Anne Square, the West-Hathaway House is one of the most charming Federal period houses in Newport, but it didn’t always call this city “home”! Believe it or not, this five-bay Federal style house was originally built in Tiverton, Rhode Island around 1800 and relocated to Newport about fifty years ago. The house was built by Samuel West (1774-1838), of a line of physicians, and later sold to Samuel Hathaway. The house was located on large farmland presently occupied by the Pardon Gray Preserve in Tiverton but was later donated to the Newport Preservation Foundation in 1977 by the owners who likely hoped to redevelop the area where this house sat. The West-Hathaway House was dismantled, moved, and reassembled on this site that same year!

South Britain Congregational Church // 1825

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The South Britain Congregational Church in Southbury, Connecticut was built in 1825 and was originally known as the Meeting House of the South Britain Ecclesiastical Society. The congregation dates back to 1766 and its first pastor, Jehu Minor, a Yale educated minister from Woodbury, was chosen in 1768. Members met at the Moses Downs House before its first meetinghouse was built in 1770. When the pre-Revolution church building was deemed inadequate, funds were raised to erect a new house of worship. In 1825, boards and other usable parts from the old building were used to construct the present Federal style church that stands in the middle of the village today. History states that pulleys were attached to an ox cart to hoist the bell up the steeple which is by far the tallest structure in the neighborhood. It is an exceptional example of the Federal style, with beautifully balanced proportions, a front pavilion, fine detailing and an elegant three-story steeple. The church made more history when in on September 25, 1937, 178 acres of land in Southbury, Connecticut was purchased for the German-American Bund, intent on building a Nazi camp. Similar camps were popping up around the nation, in an effort to promote an anti-semitic and pro-Nazi agenda. Led by Reverend Lindsay, the pastor of the church, the townspeople quickly established a zoning commission whose first ordinance forbade land usage in the town for “military training or drilling with or without arms except by the legally constituted armed forces of the United States of America.” Stunting the proliferation of nazism in Connecticut before WWII. This is why Southbury is sometimes known as “The town that said no to the Nazis”.

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!