Thankful Arnold House (1794)

thankful-arnold-house.jpg

The Thankful Arnold House, on Hayden Hill Road in Haddam, was built in three stages between 1794 and 1810. The first section, built in 1794-1795 by Linus Parmalee, was a small house, with a shop on the first floor. The mortgaged house was foreclosed in 1797 and sold to Joseph Arnold, a merchant who had his shop in the basement. In 1800, the second section was built adding two bays to the western end of the house. The third section to be added, in 1810, was an extension to the rear, making the gambrel-roofed house have a saltbox profile. The two-story ell on the west side, which was originally a separate mid-eighteenth century building, was also added at this time. Joseph Arnold died in 1823 and his widow, Thankful Clark Arnold, continued to live in the house, which was known as the Widow Arnold House, until her death in 1849. It was occupied by Arnold descendants until it was purchased in 1963 by one who lived in Texas, Isaac Arnold, who died in 1973, leaving the house to the Haddam Historical Society. By that time, the house had already been restored to its 1810 appearance and opened to the public as a museum in 1965.

Gillette Castle (1919)

gillette-castle.jpg

Gillette Castle was built by the actor and playwright William Gillette. Born in Hartford in 1853, William Hooker Gillette was the son of Senator Francis Gillette and the nephew of John Hooker and Isabella Beecher Hooker. He grew up in Hartford’s Nook Farm neighborhood and made his debut in Mark Twain‘s Gilded Age in 1877. Gillette became most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on the stage. He also wrote plays and a work of theory celled The Illusion of the First Time in Acting (1915). Gillette built his castle, in East Haddam, on the southernmost hill of a chain called the Seven Sisters. Modeled on the ruins of Medieval German fortress on the Rhine, Gillette’s Castle was built between 1914 and 1919 of local fieldstone supported by a steel framework. He supervised the construction of the distinctive building, which was surrounded by Gillette‘s eighty-four acre estate on the Connecticut River. He also had his own steam train. Gillette, who died in 1937, stated in his will that he did not want his property to going to “some blithering saphead who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded.” The home and estate was purchased by the State in 1943 to become the Gillette Castle State Park. Recently restored, the castle is open to the public for tours.

First Congregational Church of Cheshire (1826)

first-church-cheshire.jpg

Cheshire became a seperate parish from Wallingford in 1724. The first meetinghouse was a log cabin on the corner of what is now Lanyon Drive and South Main Street. This was replaced by the second meetinghouse in 1737, on the east side of Cheshire Green (where a Civil War monument stands today). This church was taken down in 1826-1827 and parts were used in the construction of the current church, designed by David Hoadley. The church has a similar design to those of the Congregational churches in Litchfield (1829) and Southington (1830).

Squire Beach House (1762)

squire-beach.jpg

The Squire Beach House, on South Main Street in Cheshire, was built by Samuel Beach, a lawyer and prominent citizen who was a leader in establishing Cheshire as a seperate town from Wallingford. His son, Burrage Beach, was a lawyer and a director of the Farmington Canal. The house, which resembles the Foote House across the street, originally faced South Main. In 1986, the house became a restaurant and was moved and turned so that its gable end now faces the street.

The Russell Cooke House (1801)

russell-cooke-house.jpg

The Russell Cooke House, on South Main Street in Cheshire, was built in 1801 and was originally both a residence and shop. When the builder, Russell Cooke, left for Ohio in 1805, others ran the shop, which was converted into a tavern in 1850 by William Horton. Later still, it was a hotel and a school. Today it is used as a law office. The gambrel-roofed building has a traditional colonial form, but with applied Federal-style details.

The Hitchcock-Phillips House (1785)

hitchcock-phillips-house.jpg

The Hitchcock-Phillips House, on Church Drive in Cheshire, dates to 1785. The Georgian-style house was built by Rufus Hitchcock, a merchant and leading citizen of Cheshire. A wing was added to the house around 1820 by Hitchcock’s son, William Rufus Hitchcock, who lived there until 1834. The house was next occupied by his sister, Lucretia and her husband, Rev. Peter Clark. Their daughter married A.W. Phillips, a Cheshire Academy instructor and later a Yale professor. They used the house as a summer home until 1907. The three dormer windows were added in 1925. The house was later used by Cheshire Academy as a dorm and was purchased by the town in 1972 to become the museum of the Cheshire Historical Society.