Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Houses

John Smith House (1742)

John Smith built the house at 163 Main Street in Farmington in 1742. He sold it to John Hart, but repurchased it from Hart in 1750-1751. It was then acquired by Dr. Elisha Lord in April 1751, who resided there until 1762. He served in the French and Indian War, as mentioned in Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society (1863):

Dr. Elisha Lord, son of Cyprian and Elizabeth (Backus) Lord, was born Aug. 10, 1726. He located first at Farmington, but subsequently returned to Norwich. After accompanying the troops sent against Crown Point, he was appointed, May, 1758, surgeon to the first regiment. In this capacity, and as director of hospital stores, he served till Dec. 22, 1760. He died at the age of forty-two.

Stephen Dorchester and Elizabeth Gould Dorchester lived in the house from 1762 to 1786. The house then passed through a succession of other owners. It was a property of the Wilcox family from 1845 to 1910. The Root family owned and leased the property between 1915 and 1963, at some point moving the house back from the street and converting it into a duplex.

Ambrose Benton House (1798)

The house at 94 State Street in Guilford was once the single-story residence of Ambrose Benton (1769-1847). He married Mary Evarts in 1790. The original first floor dates to 1798 and the house’s second story was added in 1909.

Storrs L. Hubbard House (1856)

The house at 110 Maple Avenue in Higganum in Haddam is a transitional Greek Revival/Italianate structure. It was built in 1856 by Storrs (sometimes spelled Stores and Storris) Lee Hubbard on land he had acquired the previous year. Born in 1825, Hubbard, a farmer, was the son of Stephen Hubbard and Sarah Johnson Hubbard. In 1846 he married Martha Ely. In 1894, Hubbard left $3,600 to the Middlesex County Orphans’ Home. It was used to pay off the mortgage of a house the Home had bought on Wyllys Avenue in Middletown c. 1890.

H. Curtis House (1740)

The house at 584-586 South Britain Road in Southbury, called the H. Curtis House, is thought to be the oldest house in the South Britain Historic District. Possibly built as early as 1740, the house retains a gambrel roof, although much else has been changed over the years.

4 Parsonage Lane, Washington (1790)

The house that now stands at 4 Parsonage Lane in Washington initially stood facing Washington Green. It was built circa 1790 by Samuel Leavitt as a store. His son William continued to operate the store, which was adjacent to the Leavitt House. At some point early on it was moved to its current address. For a time it was used as a school before being converted into a residence.

John Warren House (1860)

From 1851-Stiles Bacon owned the property at 14 Naubuc Avenue in East Hartford. He sold it to John N. Warren, a mariner, who replaced an earlier house on the site with the current one c. 1860. Warren sold it to his son five years later who then sold it two years after his father died in 1877 to Hiram C. Fox. It remained in the Fox family until 1946.

William Chalker House (1803)

The house at 1146 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook was built c. 1800-1803 for William Chalker. It originally stood on the opposite side of the street but was moved and an addition built when the road was straightened later on in the nineteenth century. Around that time the house was acquired by Daniel C. Spencer.

A wealthy merchant, Daniel Chapman Spencer (1823-1906) started his business career as a store clerk and then was a traveling salesman with a stock of goods carried in a peddler’s wagon. He then worked for Moulton, Plympton, Williams & Co., one of the leading wholesale dry goods firms of New York. After that company went out of business he moved on to Claflin, Mellen & Co. in New York, at the time the second largest dry goods store in the United States and soon to become the largest. He ran the company‘s notion department for thirteen years, until he broke down from the strain and decided to retire on January 1, 1868. He chose to retire to his hometown of Old Saybrook. As described in the History of Middlesex County, Connecticut with Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men (1884):

Mr. Spencer had previously purchased a number of acres contiguous to the old homestead property in Saybrook, known as the Chalker farm. Here he retired to spend his days. The old place was enlarged and improved and soon made to “blossom like a rose.” The meadows were turned into cranberry patches on which he spent several thousand dollars in working and improving. He surrounded his residence with trees and flowers until it now has the appearance of fairy land. Amid these surroundings he soon recovered his health and then devoted his energies to making such public improvements in the town as should tend to attract others to this beautiful spot selected by Col. Fenwick as the “garden spot of the earth,” more than two hundred years ago.

Spencer owned greenhouses across the street from the Chalker House. He was also involved in the development of the Borough of Fenwick, including the building of the hotel known as Fenwick Hall.

The Chalker-Spencer House was altered around 1880 when the original roof was replaced by a Mansard roof. It was later used as a boarding house.