The Hotchkiss-Betts House (1854)

hotchkiss_betts_house.jpg

The second house to be built for Nelson Hotchkiss on Chapel Street in New Haven was constructed in 1854, possibly to a design by Henry Austin. The facade of this Italianate house features two bow fronts, on either side of the front entry porch. Hotchkiss, of the sash and blind making firm of Hotchkiss & Lewis, only lived in the home two years before moving back to his old house. Judge Fred J. Betts lived in the house in the 1870s. By the 1970s, the house was boarded up and in disrepair. It was later restored.

The James Dwight Dana House (1849)

james-dwight-dana-house.jpg

James Dwight Dana was a mineralogist and Yale professor. Dana was also a member of the United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842) and the author of numerous books on geology. His house, on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, was designed by Henry Austin in the Italianate style, but was decorated with trim influenced by India (by way of British publications). The same year the house was constructed, Austin’s John Pitkin Norton House was built for another Yale science professor. The wing to the north was added in 1905 and the house was sold by the Dana family to Yale in 1962. It now houses Yale’s Department of Statistics. There is also HABS documentation on the house.

The Oliver B. North House (1852)

north-house.jpg

Showing greater freedom than in his earlier design of the 1849 Norton House on Hillhouse Avenue, Henry Austin designed another Italian villa style house on Chapel Street in 1852. Built for the Cincinnati merchant Jonathan King, the house features a prominent central tower. It is commonly known by the name of its next resident, Oliver B. North, head of O.B. North, a saddlery and carriage hardware firm.

The Willis Bristol House (1845)

willis-bristol-house.JPG

Located on Chapel Street, in New Haven’s Wooster Square neighborhood, the Willis Bristol House was designed by New Haven architect Henry Austin. Designed with a basic Italianate shape, the house has elaborate detailing in what has been described as either the Moorish Revival style or a style influenced by the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, which was built in the Indo-Saracenic style. Yale has original plans and illustrations of the house and a there is also a HABS record. The house was built for Willis Bristol, of Bristol & Hall, boot and shoe manufacturers.