Ethan Allen Birthplace (1736)

Happy New Year!!! Our first building of 2011 is the birthplace of a hero of the American Revolution. Ethan Allen led the Green Mountain Boys in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and then served in the American military expedition against Canada in 1775. Although famous as a champion of statehood for Vermont, with a Homestead that can be visited in Burlington VT, Allen was born on January 21, 1738 in Litchfield CT. In 1740, his parents Joseph and Mary Allen, moved the family from the Litchfield house, built in 1736, to a new farm in Cornwall. Ethan took over the farm after his father’s death in 1755 and later struck out on his own, establishing a charcoal blast furnace in Salisbury in 1761. He eventually settled in Vermont, having purchased land in the area then known as the New Hampshire Grants. Ethan Allen also wrote a book, Reason: the Only Oracle of Man, first published in 1784.

Abel Snow House (1777)

At 4 Maple Street in Chester is the Abel Snow House. Newspapers dating to 1777 and 1785 were found in the walls of the house, indicating its most likely date of construction. Purchased by Abel Snow in 1824, the house was a divided dwelling with retail stores in the nineteenth century and continues today with two apartments above with a retail store below. During a twentieth-century restoration, a small room was found sealed-off from the rest of the house; it is believed someone had once hanged himself in this room in the nineteenth century.

Weed-Lounsbury-Davenport-Bradford House (1774)

Most likely built between 1772 and 1774 by William Weed, the Weed-Lounsbury-Davenport-Bradford House is located at the intersection of Ponus Ridge and Wahackme Road in New Canaan. It was next occupied by William Weed Jr., then Edgar Lounsbury (1837), followed by his son, Silas Lounsbury and then Silas’ daughter, Carrie Lounsbury Davenport (d. 1947) and her husband, John L. Davenport. She sold the house to Lindsay Bradford, president of City Bank Farmers Trust Company (1936-1951) and president of the New York War Relief Fund during World War II, who restored the old house and farm.

The Justin Hobart House (1765)

Built in 1765 by a local cabinetmaker on Beach Road in Fairfield, the Justin Hobart House is one of the few structures to survive the burning of the town by the British in 1779. After the burning, church meetings and court sessions were held in the house until a new meeting house was completed in 1785. The house has had additions over the years, including the current entry portico. A new wing was added to the rear of the house in 1890 and a sun room extension around the mid-twentieth century. During World War One, the house served as the headquarters of the Fairfield Chapter of the American Red Cross.Happy Thanksgiving from Historic Buildings of Connecticut!

Samuel Pellet House (1752)

The Samuel Pellet House, on North Canterbury Road in Canterbury, was constructed around 1752. Samuel Pellet built the new house at the time of his second marriage, to Hannah Underwood. The couple planted two sycamore trees in front of the house, signifying husband and wife. One was lost in the 1938 hurricane, but the other survives today. According to tradition, Sarah Harris, Prudence Crandall’s first black student, worked as a servant in the house for a later owner. The house’s ell served as a post office from 1933 to 1944.

Edward Waldo Homestead (1715)

The Edward Waldo Homestead is a vernacular saltbox house on Waldo Road in Scotland. It was built in 1715 by Edward Waldo, on land along the Shetucket River he had purchased in 1702. The house, which later had two wings added, remained in the Waldo family until 1971. Daniel Waldo, who was born in the house in 1762, served as Chaplain of the House of Representatives from 1856 until his death in 1864. Also born in the house was Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), portraitist, art critic and a founder member of the National Academy of Design. When its last owner, Ruth Waldo, died in 1975, she bequeathed the house to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society and the surrounding fields to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. The house is now a museum operated by the Scotland Historical Society. Each year, the surrounding fields host the Scotland Connecticut Highland Games.