Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Architectural Style

Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. House (1769)

Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. was the son of Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., Connecticut’s governor during the Revolutionary War. He was the brother of the artist John Trumbull, who painted notable scenes from the Revolution. Jonathan Jr. served during the war himself as Military Sectary to George Washington, replacing Alexander Hamilton in that position in 1781 and holding it throughout the Yorktown Campaign. After the war, Trumbull served as Governor of Connecticut (1797-1809). Trumbull’s house, on the Green in Lebanon, was originally built around 1769 by his father and was remodeled during the war in the fashionable Georgian style by the master builder Isaac Fitch. George Washington spent the night of March 4, 1781 in the home, which is now owned and operated as a house museum by the Town of Lebanon.

(more…)

UCONN School of Law (1926)

Originally the campus of the Hartford Seminary, the Collegiate Gothic-style buildings of the University of Connecticut’s School of Law are located along Fern Street and Girard Avenue in Hartford. The land was purchased by the Seminary in 1913 and the original buildings were constructed in 1922-1926, designed by the firm of Allen & Collens, architects of New York’s Riverside Church. In 1978, the state authorized $6 million for the Law School, founded in 1921, to purchase and renovate the campus. The Seminary moved to a new adjacent building and the Law School occupied the old campus in 1984. In 1996 a new library was constructed on the campus, which has recently been revealed to have significant structural problems.

Edward Augustus Russell House (1842)

Edward Augustus Russell was the brother of the Middletown merchant Samuel Russell. Edward A. Russell served as mayor of Middletown and a state representative. His Greek Revival-style house was built on High Street in Middletown in 1841-1842, next to his brother’s home of 1828. Like the Samuel Russell House, Edward’s house may have been designed by the important architect Ithiel Town. Significant alterations were made when a third floor was added in 1930.

Reverend Stephen Jewett House (1833)

The Reverend Stephen Jewett House, on Wooster Place in New Haven, was originally built in 1833 for the merchant Theron Towner, who then sold it to Rev. Jewett, an Episcopal minister. The house was designed and constructed by the builder James English, who later became a successful manufacturer and politician. After the Civil War, when the Second Empire style became fashionable, the house was updated with a Mansard roof and a new porch.

The Willard House (1905)

Linked to the Cheney family of silk manufacturers in Manchester, the Willard House is considered one of the Cheney Mansions–it was built for John Davenport Cheney. Located on Hartford Road in Manchester, the house was designed by Charles Adams Platt (himself a member of the Cheney family) and was constructed in 1905. It is currently utilized as the Alison Gill Lodge of the Shelter for Women.

United Congregational Church, Norwich (1857)

In 1842, a group gathered primarily from Norwich’s Second Congregational Church formed a new congregation which met in the town hall until their own church building was constructed on Main Street in 1845. Known as the Main Street Congregational Church, they eventually built a new building on Broadway after the Main Street structure was destroyed by fire in 1854. The Broadway Congregational Church, a much larger building than the first, was built in the Romanesque Revival style between 1855 and 1857. Broadway Congregational later merged with the Second Church congregation and has since been known as the United Congregational Church. The building originally had a spire that was 200 feet high, but it was struck by lightning and removed in 1898.

Ahern Funeral Home (1855)

The house at 180 Farmington Avenue in Hartford which now serves as the Ahern Funeral Home, was built around 1855. It represents the transition from the Greek Revival style (with its cubical shape and three bay front) to the Italianate style (with its overhanging roof and elaborately detailed portico). The one story addition was added in the later nineteenth century. The Ahern Funeral Home, Inc. was founded in 1886 and acquired the house in 1934.