I have a thing for temple-front Greek Revival homes, and this is no exception. This marvelous home was built in 1832 for Francis Dimon Perry (1809-1884), who inherited some of his father’s wealth and became President of Southport National Bank in town. He was a devoted member of Trinity Church throughout his life. Upon Mrs. Perry‘s death in 1893, couple left their residence to the Trinity Church to be used as the parish rectory.
The Trinity Episcopal Church in the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut was established in 1725. Twenty families met for worship at its first meeting house in the center of town on Thanksgiving Day, 1725. Since then, the church has constructed five different places of worship in locations around town. Architect Albert C. Nash designed the church which was constructed during the years 1854-56. Sadly, the building’s near total destruction by wind during a tornado on January 1, 1862, required the church to be completely rebuilt as originally planned, with a few structural alterations. Trinity Church is an excellent work of early Gothic Revival church architecture in wood, one of the best I have seen in my trips around the region.
Fairfield in the early 20th century began to shift as a suburban town with neighborhoods of large homes in planned districts. The proliferation of the personal automobile led to the “suburbanization” past streetcar suburbs closer to downtowns. Howard Greeley Lee (1893-1965) worked as Vice President of the Lee Brothers Furniture Co. based out of nearby Bridgeport. The company clearly did well as Howard had this large home built in the fairly uncommon (in New England) Spanish Revival style. It features a red tile roof, stuccoed siding, metal casement windows, and arched windows and front door, all commonly found in the style.
On July 7-8, 1779, the Red Coats marched through Fairfield torching houses to punish the locals for seeking independence. They killed locals, destroying anything they could find on their way out, setting fires to homes and civic buildings around the Green. This home was built by Isaac Tucker, later sold to Jonathan Maltbie, sea captain involved with East Indies trade. He later would fight against the British during the Revolution, and after the war, was hired as captain on one of the first cutter ships built, the Argus. During the British invasion of Fairfield, they attempted to set fire to this home three times, but it seemed to never go up in flames when they returned. The tradition holds that an elderly servant, hiding upstairs, put out the flames and saved the house from destruction, after the British Troops torched it. Burn marks apparently remain inside to this day. Since the home was built, the front door facing the street was relocated to the side, and a large multi-pane bay window was installed in its place.
Located in North Pomfret, Vermont, the North Pomfret Congregational Church is one of many white clapboard church buildings constructed in the mid 19th century. Built in 1847 by the Church of Christian Brothers and the Congregationalists, the church was used by the two religious societies as a joint meeting house, each society holding services in the church on alternating Sundays. The Greek Revival style church features a prominent tiered, boxed bell tower with louvered lancet openings and a slender octagonal spire.
In researching historic buildings in the tiny Vermont town of Pomfret, I was stunned to find images of this stunning Modern design in the town. Designed by the Birdseye Design Firm based out of Richmond, VT, “Woodshed” was completed by 2017 and serves as both a guest house and entertainment space for the main residence down the road. From the firm’s website, “The project is conceptually inspired by the vernacular woodshed, a familiar and iconic element in the Vermont landscape. The residence is composed of two asymmetric gable roof forms, akin to the traditional woodshed, connected by a central entryway”. The common thought on new construction is typically bland and “cookie-cutter” McMansions or boxy apartments, but this project is a testament to thoughtful Modern design found in even the smallest towns in the region!
Located across the street from the Congregationalist Church (now Town Hall) in Pomfret Center, the Methodists in Pomfret Vermont built this church building just a couple years after their neighbor was completed. Replicating the Greek Revival style seen across the street, the building showcases a templed form with projecting portico, as an excellent vernacular example of the style. Similar to its neighbor, this church was sold to the Town of Pomfret in the 1880s, modernized in the early 20th century, and converted to a district schoolhouse.
Located across the street from the main collection of remaining Shaker buildings in the Enfield Shaker Museum campus, this historic stone structure stands as a lasting remnant of the workspaces built for the active Shaker community there. Once part of a larger group of structures that once stood here (the machine shop being the only extant), including a tannery, blacksmith shop, animal sheds, and broom shop, this stone structure shows the significance of rural industry in Enfield. This structure was built in 1849 and was water powered. Stone Machine Shop was powered by a nearby stream and mill pond. Water flowing through the stream would enter into the mill’s head race, move across several water wheels, and exit through the tail race before being dumped back into the stream
This 1819 building was originally located next to the first dwelling house on the present location of the Great Stone Dwelling in Enfield Shaker Village. The Shakers moved this structure to its current location in 1834 to make room for their new stone dwelling house. The building was primarily used as a school building for the Shaker children, but was soon converted to a tailor’s shop after the boy’s and girl’s schools were joined into one room. In Shaker communities throughout the United States, it was customary for Shaker tailors to create the clothing for the men of the community. A brother’s standard uniform consisted of a great coat, dress coat, waistcoat, and trousers.
In New England, brick houses are more scarce for the simple fact trees are everywhere, brickyards were not. As towns and cities developed all across the region, some towns found they had a lot of clay in their soil, perfect for the manufacturing of brick. In Thetford, a man named Hezekiah Porter was the first to start a brickyard, manufacturing bricks for construction projects around the area. By the 1820s, a couple brick houses were built in the Thetford Hill area of town including the Hosford House, one of the earliest. Thomas Turner, a builder constructed the Hosford House and this home nearby for his own use, both utilizing Porter’s bricks. This fine Federal home was likely a great advertisement for Turner’s building skills.
Burton Hall was constructed in 1845 as a boy’s dormitory for Thetford Academy on a lot given by Orange Heaton (who lived nearby), just north of the original Academy Building. The structure was named Burton Hall in memory of Asa Burton, one of the Academy’s founders. The structure was sold by the Academy by about 1860 for $200, to a J.H. Huntington, who moved it across the street to its present site to replace his house which had burned the year prior. In the late 1930’s, Dwight Goddard, the owner of the home at the time, gifted the building back to the Academy since which time it has been known as Goddard Hall.
Fun Fact: Buildings historically were much more likely to be moved than demolished as the cost of building materials was much more than labor. Today, the opposite is true so many developers and owners prefer to demolish.
Is there anything better than a brick Federal style house?
This house in Thetford, Vermont was built for Heman Hosford in 1821 from bricks produced by Hezekiah Porter, who established the earliest known brickyard in Thetford. Hosford sold the house to Enoch Slade in 1837 and it remained in the Slade Family for over seven generations. He became a prominent citizen of Thetford, was a surveyor and for many years justice of the peace, and in the latter part of his life was generally known by the title of “Squire Slade.” He was a supporter and trustee of Thetford Academy, in which his children and grandchildren were educated. He was a member of the Congregational church and an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party. The brick gable front home features a louvered sidelights and fan over the front door and in the gable.
This transitional Federal house in Thetford was built around 1795 for an Isaac White. The house was later owned by Orange Heaton (who’s name perfectly fits the color of the leaves in the photo). The design is refined, yet stately with the enclosed, gabled, projecting entrance porch. Louvered panels and an elliptical louvered fan frame the door.
One of the most photographed buildings in North End is arguably this tenement block, built in 1895 at the corner of Prince and Salem Streets. As the North End continued to redevelop into a diverse immigrant community, tenement houses were constructed by those with the means, providing housing at low cost to those who arrived to Boston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Max and Etta “Ethel” Lebowich, Russian Jews, immigrated to Boston, settling in the Jewish quarter of the North End and opened up a dry goods store at the corner. The business did well, and the couple redeveloped their land and hired Swedish-born architect Charles A. Halstrom, to design the prominent apartment house. The Renaissance Revival building features massive pressed metal oriels and brick and stone construction. I am unsure if the oriels are truly copper, which would have been fairly expensive for a tenement building, or if they are pressed tin. Any insight would be much appreciated.
Tucked away off Main Street in North Adams you’ll find this charming little church. The Universalists were organized in North Adams in 1842, restoring an existing church near the Hoosic River. The congregation chose a site for a new church in 1852, and erected a white wooden chapel. It is unclear if the church was outgrown or a fire destroyed it, but the Unitarian society voted to build this church for a cost of approximately $25,000 in 1892. Architect Henry Neill Wilson of Pittsfield drew the plans, and the firm of Porter and Harnam of North Adams constructed the church. Due to the declining population in town in the mid-20th century, the church struggled and was sold to a private owner. The building began to decay by the 1970s and was later sold in 1996 to Barbara and Eric Rudd to house artist Eric Rudd’s installation entitled “A Chapel for Humanity”. The building is currently used as the Berkshire Art Museum Annex.
