The Amasa Day House in Moodus (in East Haddam) was built in 1816 by Colonel Julius Chapman, who farmed on the property. After his death, in 1842, the property was sold at auction and purchased by Amasa Day. In the following years, Day, who was an insurance agent and banker, sold off parts of the land. The house was inherited by his daughter, Katherine and her husband, Eugene Chaffee, who worked for the New York Net and Twine Company, one of several twine factories in Moodus. Their son was Dr. Amasa Day Chaffee, a well-known art photographer. The house was donated to Connecticut Landmarks in 1967 and is now a museum.
Amasa Day House (1816)
Beautiful photo of the house. The one I own at 51 Moodus-Leesville Rd., Moodus, was built by Col. Julius Chapman eight years ahead of the Amasa Day House in 1808. The basic structure is the same and I am active with the East Haddam Historical Society & Museum.
As a past president of the E. Haddam Historical Society, I learned that Col. Julius Chapman not only built this house in 1808, but that he also built the Amasa Day House down the road in 1816. Both are identical Federal, two-chimney houses. Our
neighbor, Walt Golec, grew up in this house,
and is a font of information, as is the town historian, Dr. Karl Stofko. The history of our house at 51 Moodus-Leesville Rd. is equally interesting, with a special ghost story involving Mr. Golec’s grandfather.
The house is now for sale and lucky will be
the history-conscious buyer. The original hardware still surrounds the front door.
What months,days and hours is the amasa day house open for tours. Thank You
I am so pleased to find this page and this history of 51 Moodus Leesville Rd., which my husband and I bought in July of 2021. We both grew up in historic homes and have a love of and passion for character properties. The period hardware on the front door is an exquisite detail–as is the transom above the door.
We’d love to hear the ghost story! We also wondered if it would be appropriate to have a plaque on the house that identifes its builders and the date. Now that we know his name we may investigate this!