Betts Farm (1790)

Betts Farm, located at 249 Nod Road in Ridgefield, is an estate consisting of several historic structures, including the main house, an ice house and wood shed, a barn, and an adjacent cottage. The original section of the main house dates to circa 1790. It features an Early Classical Revival-style gable-fronted facade with four Ionic columns and a circular window in the gable. In about 1925 the house was acquired by Henry King McHarg (1851-1942), a railroad tycoon from Albany, New York whose family had roots in Ridgefield. Two years later he married his second wife, Elizabeth Clark Pierce (she was 36 and he was 76) and it is possibly around that time that he joined another, originally separate, house to the rear of the 1790 structure.

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Old Stone Church, New Preston (1824)

New Preston Hill Congregational Church.

The Old Stone Church, also known as the Hill Church and the Stone Meetinghouse, is located adjacent to the New Preston Hill Green in the town of Washington. The successor to two earlier church buildings, erected in 1754 and 1766, that no longer survive, the Stone Church was built in 1824 by the Ecclesiastical Society of New Preston. It was at the heart of a rural community that included two other stone notable buildings: a tavern, built in 1800 across the street, and a schoolhouse, built in 1850 behind the church. In 1853 the congregation built a new church at New Preston Center, which was developing as an industrial center. The New Preston Hill area has maintained its rural character and the Old Stone Church, which lacks modern heating, continued to be used during the summer months.

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Broad Brook Hotel (1840)

The three-story gambrel-roofed building at 98 Main Street in the village of Broad Brook in East Windsor was built in 1840. Its gable-end faces the street and has a two-level front porch with columns. When it was erected, the building was known as Hubbard’s Hotel. It was later called the Broad Brook Hotel and was owned by the Broad Brook Company. The upper floors contained guest rooms and dining facilities, with an auditorium on the third floor. The ground floor housed businesses, such as a harness shop and possibly a tin store. Other tenants over the years included the Broad Brook Library and a U. S. Post Office. In 1956 the building became the Masonic Hall of Oriental Lodge No. 111. Their previous lodge at E. W. Pigeon’s store had been wrecked in the Flood of 1955. The Lodge later moved to South Windsor.

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Isaac H. Seeley House (1840)

House at 27 Main Street in Bethel

The house at 27 Main Street in Bethel was built circa 1840 by Isaac H. Seeley (1793-1880), the son and partner of hatter Nathan Seeley. He later operated his own company, I. M. Seeley & Son. His brother, the merchant Seth Seeley, lived in the house that is now the Bethel Public Library. The eastern section of Isaac’s house (on the left in the image above) is much older than the main block, perhaps dating to as early as 1795.