Stephen Main House (1781)

The house at 1 Wyassup Road in North Stonington, known as the Stephen Main Homestead, is the headquarters of the North Stonington Historical Society. Built in 1781, the house was first owned by Luther Avery, who ran Avery Mills in town. Stephen Main bought the house in 1861. Born in North Stonington in 1805, Main went to New York City at age seventeen. There he ran a successful butter stall and became an extensive dealer in real estate. He returned to North Stonington in 1856 and purchased a sawmill and gristmill, located at the site of the lower dam on the Shunock River. He apparently constructed the present dam about 1850. The house was later owned by Fred Stewart Greene, an artist who was born in North Stonington, but was raised in Westerly, RI, where he later had his art studio. From 1911-1923, Greene operated an art school at Greene Gables cottage on the Hewitt Farm (in 2017 the town voted to demolish the cottage, which had been deemed unsafe). The North Stonington Historical Society, founded in 1970, acquired the Stephen Main House from Greene’s heirs in 1980.

Holmes Block (1800)

The building at 2 Wyassup Road in North Stonington was erected c. 1800-1820 as the village store, although it may date to the eighteenth century, when Williams and Rogers had a store here. It was later used by Augustus L. Babcock, a coffin maker. It became known as the Holmes Block in the 1840s. At that time, Wheeler H. Holmes had a confectionery and bakery in the south section (possibly added around that time and later demolished—see below), while his father, David Holmes, had his furniture and undertaking business in the center and north end. Various grocery and general stores have occupied the building over the years and the center and north section were used as a post office from 1893 to 1897, when J.E. Bennett was postmaster. In more recent years, the north section has been the Village Hardware Store. In 1999, the Watermark Cafe opened in the south section. The building is located right next to the Shunock River and severe flooding in March 2010 damaged the south section and the adjacent stone double arch bridge, the latter dating to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. The part of the building housing the Watermark was torn down on April 13, 2010. [Compare before and after images] The bridge was rebuilt and in 2016 a new Village General Store, Hardware and Cafe reopened in the surviving section of the Holmes Block.

Marcia Thompson Schoolhouse (1814)

Located on the property of the Andrew Baldwin House, 63 Main Street in North Stonington, is an 1814 one-room schoolhouse. Originally located on Taugwonk Road in Stonington, the school was in operation until the 1920s. In the late twentieth century, it was moved to its current location by Fred and Alma Lampert, who owned the Baldwin House. The couple had also built a gristmill and a replica of the original blacksmith shop on the property and used the old carriage house as a museum of historical artifacts. Their property contained the foundation of the North Stonington village’s own lost schoolhouse and the 1814 school building was moved onto it. The Limperts furnished the schoolhouse based on a photograph they received from Marcia Bentley Thompson (1892-1990) that showed her on her first day as a teacher in 1911 in a one-room school in the Clarks Falls section of North Stonington. When the restoration was completed the Limperts named it the Marcia Thompson Schoolhouse.

Andrew Baldwin House (1819)

The Federal-style residence at 63 Main Street in North Stonington was built in 1819 by Andrew Baldwin, the village carpenter. The house is located next to the Shunock River and a millpond that served a nearby sawmill. At the time, North Stonington village was home to a number of mills and was called Milltown. Later, in the twentieth century, the Baldwin property was owned by Frank and Alma Limpert, who operated Limpert Realty. Starting in 1960 (they sold the property c. 1987), the couple collected artifacts and added new structures to the grounds. Frank Limpert built two dams and a sluice gate to utilize dammed water for a waterwheel he constructed and attached to a new mill addition at the rear of the building, inspired by one at the birthplace of the artist Gilbert Stewart in North Kingstown, R.I. The Limperts also brought to the grounds an 1871 mill from Ohio and an 1814 schoolhouse, the latter of which they filled with period schoolhouse furniture and objects. They tore down the termite-infested blacksmith shop and replaced it with a replica, and turned the old carriage house into a museum filled with historical artifacts. They often welcomed visits by local schoolchildren and other visitors. The mill still bears a sign that read’s “Limpert’s Gristmill.” The old carriage house was more recently home to “The Village Antiques and Collectibles.”
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John Randall House (1685)

Off Route 2 in North Stonington is a colonial house that is hidden from the highway down a long driveway (address: 41 Norwich-Westerly Road). Its earliest section dates back to c. 1685, with the main block reaching its present configuration c. 1720. Named for John Randall, it was the homestead of the Randall family. John Randall I (1629-1684), who had settled in Westerly, Rhode Island, purchased the land in 1680 and his son, John Randall II (1666-1720) built the house. His son, Capt. John Randall III (1701-1761) added to the family holdings. Later descendant Darius H. Randall (born 1823) was an abolitionist and his home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. The house, acquired by Harvey Perry in 1926, was restored about 1930 by Norman Isham, an early preservationist and co-author, with Albert Brown, of Early Connecticut Houses (1900).

William and Lucinda Clark bought the property in 1986 and the following year opened called Randall’s Ordinary Landmark Inn and Restaurant, where eighteenth-century style open hearth meals were prepared and served by staff dressed in period clothing. The property was acquired by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in 1995 and the restaurant continued in operation until 2006. In 2015, the property was purchased by Carla and Rodolfo Bartolucci, owners of Euro-USA Trading Co. Inc., makers of organic foods under the name Jovial. Last year they opened a new company headquarters facility on the property and they plan to rehabilitate the house and other buildings on the grounds as a restored inn and restaurant.

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