Harris Sayles

Harris Sayles House // c.1860

Buildings of New England1 Comment

This handsome Italianate style house is located on Dog Hill Road in Killingly Center, Connecticut. The house appears to date to the years just before the Civil War and historic maps show that the property was owned by Harris Sayles, a co-owner of the large woolen mill in nearby Dayville. The home was built for Harris and his wife, Phebe. The house stands out for its two-tiered gallery of porches with large chamfered posts and paired brackets and has some Classical corner pilasters and door surrounds noting the transitional period from Classical Greek Revival style to the romantic Italianate style.

Harris and Sabin Sayles Mansion // c.1845

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Located in the Dayville section of Killingly, Connecticut, you can find a row of large mansions built for mill owners and managers from the 19th century. This house dates to the 1840s and by the 1860s, was owned by Harris Sayles (1817-1893) and his brother, Sabin L. Sayles (1827-1891) who together, co-owned and operated a large woolen mill in the town (featured previously). It is not clear if the Sayles brothers lived in the home, but they likely rented it to higher-level employees at the mill as they both had other homes in town. The two-and-a-half story mansion is a great example of the Greek Revival style in the town, with the side gable roof extending over the full-height portico with doric columns. The mansion was built across the street from the village church, also in the same style, but that building was demolished by 2011.