Around 1832, Randolph Please built his second home in Middletown, across College Street from his first home. This newer building has a classic Greek Revival temple-front. In 1916, it was remodeled to become a church. Today, it is Middletown’s First Church of Christ, Scientist.
Second Randolph Please House (1832)
Why did he build two houses? Though, I must say, this second house is much grander than the first one.
I have read that Randolph (a distant cousin of mine) moved this home (or the basic structure of it) to this location, from South Green. Anyone have a definitive ruling on this? – (He may have wanted a grander home because he and his brother Aaron Spencer Pease experienced increasing prosperity, through their retail business on Main Street, in the block that was more recently razed to accommodate the police station.)