Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Houses

Woodward-Gordon-Benham House (1829)

The house at 60 Main Street South in Woodbury was built in 1829 for Dr. Frederick B. Woodward. The house’s front porch is a later addition. In 1842 it was purchased by Alexander Gordon, Sr. (1814-1893) who owned a tannery across the street. His son, Alexander Gordon, Jr. (1847-1914) befriended the famous wanderer called the Old Leatherman. Gordon provided scraps of leather to replace worn parts of the Leatherman‘s patchwork suit. In 1915 the house was purchased by George H. Benham as a Christmas present for his wife Antoinette Judson Benham.

Miner Grant Store (1797)

In 1797 the Town of Willington granted permission for Gen./Dr. Miner Grant to build a store to the southeast of the town green. It was built as a one-and-a-half story cape with its gable end facing the street. The store was in operation until the period of the Civil War. It was then converted into a residence and significantly altered. The original store entrance was located in the center of the gable end, where there is now a chimney. By 1801, Dr. Miner Grant’s son, Miner Grant, Jr., was working as a store clerk for Dr. Samuel Willard of Stafford. An accidental explosion on December 23, 1801 led to a fire that destroyed the store. Willard and Grant escaped, but another clerk, Augustus Miller, was killed. The store was rebuilt the following year and the business was acquired by Miner Grant, Sr., who was setting his son up in business. In 1806, Miner Grant, Jr. took over the Stafford store, which was moved to Old Sturbridge Village in 1938. His father’s earlier store, now a house, remains in its original location at 242 Tolland Turnpike in Willington.

Timothy Palmer House (1838)

The Greek Revival house at the corner of East Main Street and Mill Plain Road in Branford (current address 270 E Main St; an earlier address was 254 E Main St.) was built by Timothy Palmer (1810-1885) c. 1838, just after his 1837 marriage to Louisa M. Beach. The house remained in the family into the early twentieth century. It is now used as offices.

North Congregational Church Parsonage, Woodbury (1828)

Next to the North Congregational Church in Woodbury is the church parsonage. It was built circa 1828-1829 as a residence by Leman Sherman, who died in 1831. It passed through other owners until 1871, when it became the parsonage and has been a home to the ministers of North Church ever since. The parsonage, which was in danger of collapsing, was extensively restored and the interior modernized in 2012-2013.

61 East Town Street, Norwich (1860)

The house at 61 East Town Street in Norwich was built c. 1860 on the 1659 home lot of Simon Huntington (1629-1705), one of the early settlers of the town.

William E. Weld House (1850)

William E. Weld was a carpenter and builder and ran a lumber business in Guilford for almost fifty years in the nineteenth century. He built many houses in town, including the Albert B Wildman House (1852), the Frederick A. Weld House (built for his brother in 1852) the Benjamin Bradley House (1860) and the Julia Labadie House (1872). Weld built his own house in 1850 at 45 Boston Street.

Stone Store – Church House (1773)

The building at 10 Kirby Road, on the Green in Washington, was built in 1773 as the store of Joel and Leman Stone, who lived in the “Red House” just to the east. Joel was a loyalist and Leman was a Patriot. After 1811 the store was converted into a one-and-a-half story house for Bennett G. Fenn (1800-1834) and his wife Phebe Susannah Gunn, who was the sister of Frederick W. Gunn, founder of The Gunnery school. Henry James Church acquired the house in 1861. He expanded it to two-and-a-half stories and built an ell on the south side. The house remained in the Church family until 1961. A recent realty listing describes the house as the “Edward Church House.” perhaps a reference to Henry James Church’s son Edward W. Church (1863-1941).