New England Colonial

Mixer Tavern // 1710

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Photo from real estate listing.

One of the most historic houses in Ashford, Connecticut was listed for sale! The house at 14 Westford Road dates to 1710, when John Mixer purchased the property which at the time totaled 100 acres, and applied for a license to operate a tavern. John Mixer was born in 1668 in Watertown, Massachusetts and married Abigail Fiske in 1695. Mixer worked as a tanner in Watertown before moving to Connecticut, becoming the first settler of Ashford in 1710. Mixer became Ashford’s first Town Clerk, Treasurer, Tavern Keeper, Select Man, and Deacon. Mixer and his family would eventually move to Suffield, Connecticut, but the old tavern remains in impeccable condition, largely due to its later owners and preservation as an inn and restoration in the 1920s.

Trinity Church, Newport // 1725

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Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island is one of the largest extant 18th century churches in New England, and founded in 1698, it is the oldest Episcopal parish in the state. Built in 1725, the Georgian style church was built just as the influence of Sir Christopher Wren’s churches reached the colonies, about a quarter century after his work had come to dominate ecclesiastical design in London. Trinity is the second major church built in the original colonies influenced by Wren, following Old North Church in Boston’s North End (1723). Stylistically, both churches are similar, with the notable difference in material (Old North in brick and Trinity Church in clapboard). Local builder Richard Munday, is credited with the design of Trinity Church. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many members of the Vanderbilt family and other wealthy residents attended sermons here when summering in Newport. When Newport was undergoing Urban Renewal in the mid-20th century, Queen Anne Square (the park which fronts the church) was created in the 1970s to establish a town common in a city which had never truly had one. “Early” buildings in the area to be bulldozed for the common were moved to other sites to enhance the “colonial” rehabilitation of the area around the harbor, making this one of the few examples of urban renewal having a positive impact on a city.

President Calvin Coolidge Birthplace // 1840

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The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site in Plymouth, Vermont preserves the birthplace and childhood home of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States. This iconic historic village appears much as it was during Coolidge’s lifetime. The homes of the Coolidge family, their relatives and friends are joined by the 1840 church, 1890 schoolhouse, cheese factory, and historic agricultural structures and barns. More on all of these later. First up is the birthplace of President Coolidge. This squat 1 1/2-story dwelling was built in 1840 at the rear of the Coolidge Family store which fronts the main road. By the 20th century, the old home was altered, but was restored in 1971 just in time for the 100th birthday celebration by the State of Vermont for Coolidge, dedicating the village as a historic museum.

Whidden-Ward House // c.1720

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The Whidden-Ward House in The Hill section of downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is an excellent example of a wood-frame Georgian-style residence in the coastal city. The house was built in the early 1720s by joiner, Michael Whidden Jr. As a third generation joiner, Whidden built several houses in the Portsmouth area, this one for his own residence. The house was purchased in the 1770s by Nathum Ward, who “modernized” the house with the triangular pediments over the windows. The house was moved over a block to its present site in the early 1970s as much of the surrounding neighborhood was demolished during Urban Renewal.

Bond Farmhouse // c.1800

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This farmhouse is unreal… Located on a rural back road in Millbury, I came across this rambling old Cape house with a stone wall and everything! The home appears to have been built in the late 18th or early 19th century, possibly as a half-cape (with the door and two windows to the right) for Emery Bond, or possibly his father, Oliver Bond. The home (like many Cape houses) was added onto as the family grew and finances could necessitate a more substantial house. It likely added the two bays to the left of the front door next, then bumping out the sides by the 20th century to give it the present, elongated appearance. It’s not often that a once-modest Cape house stops me in my tracks!

Loring House // c.1658

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Likely the oldest home in the town of Hull, the Loring House has ties to the significant Loring Family, who’s descendants include individuals on both sides of the American Revolution, the US Civil War, and today live across North America, Spain, England and Australia. This house was built on land purchased by Thomas Loring (1600-1661) who came to Hingham in 1634 from England. He built a larger estate in town until a fire destroyed all his belongings, and he chose not to rebuild, but acquired property in the adjoining plantation of Hull. In Hull, he served as constable (court officer and tax collector), and raised his family there. His eldest son, John, married in 1657 and likely had this home built on his father’s vast land holdings within the year. John worked as a house-wright and likely built the home himself. He had two wives (his first wife Mary died at 39), and 15 children at the home, though some likely did not live past infancy as was common in early colonial days. John died in 1714, but left a lasting legacy in New England and beyond. Notably, his grandson was Joshua Loring, a British Loyalist who built the famous Loring-Greenough House in Boston. The old Loring House in Hull is very-well maintained inside and out and serves as a time-capsule of days past.