At 671 Farmington Avenue in Farmington is a saltbox colonial house built in 1704 by by Timothy North (the date of 1704 is probably a traditional date: it may date to much later, circa 1780; or it may have been built by Timothy’s father, Thomas North, as Timothy North was not even born until 1714). It was later home to Timothy’s son, Seth North (1752-1822), who was known as “Sinner North” because he never attended Sunday services in the meeting house and refused to pay the fines that he was then charged as a punishment. The village boys used to refer to him in a deferential manner as “Mr. Sinner.” As related in Farmington, Connecticut, The Village of Beautiful Homes (1906):
He was otherwise so much in accordance with modern ideas, that as he drew near his end, he ordered his body to be cremated, the place a lonely spot on the mountain between two rocks, and his friend, Adam Stewart, chief cremator, who was to inherit the house for his kindly services. The civil authority, however, interposed and insisted on giving him what they deemed a Christian burial, but Adam Stewart got the house and it remained in the family many years.
In 1898, when Alfred A. Pope was acquiring the various parcels that would make up the Hillstead estate, he purchased the North House. The house was remodeled, an old barn on the property was replaced with a new hay barn and an attached cow barn was also constructed, as well as two other small buildings (a shed and a shop) designed by Pope’s daughter, Theodate. In the resulting farm complex she raised a Guernsey herd.