Harvey Bronson House (1830)

974 Southford Rd., Southbury

The house at 974 Southford Road in Southbury was probably built around 1830-1840, but it was adapted to its current Greek Revival form by owner Harvey Bronson. The original front facade was on the south side, but Bronson made the street-facing gable end the new Greek Revival facade, c.1850. A number of Bronsons lived in the vicinity, as described in the History of New Haven County, Vol. II (1892), edited by J. L. Rockey:

Samuel Bronson, who married Elizabeth Tanner in 1735, was the father of the Bronsons of this locality, one of whom, Harvey, had a rope walk. Noah Bronson was a cooper and also a rope maker. His son, Aaron, was a cordwainer and button maker. His son, Harvey, manufactured clock cord extensively for the clock makers of Bristol and Waterbury, and was the last Bronson thus here engaged. Abel W. Bronson, the second son of Aaron, became a well known blacksmith and gimlet maker. A grandson of Aaron, C. W. Bradley, became a well known railroad man in New York.

As mentioned above, Havery Bronson (1795-1876), son of Aaron Bronson, made clock cord. The house was inherited by his son, David Bronson, whose estate sold the house in 1894 to Aaron Thompson.

William Sisson House (1776)

William Sisson House

The oldest surviving house in the village of North Stonington is the William Sisson House, built in 1776. Located at 69 Main Street, it is unusual in being a hip-roofed Georgian style house, a form more commonly found in the southern states. William Sisson was a joiner (and possibly a farmer as well). The house is in the Historic American Buildings Survey, where it is referred to as House, Post Office Vicinity, North Stonington, New London County, CT.

E. Thorp House (1792)

E. Thorp House

The house at 52 Main Street in Southport, known as the E. Thorp House, was built in 1792. The historic residence suffered damage from Hurricane Irene in 2011 when a beech tree in the front yard split and crashed through the roof on the left side, damaging three floors. The house was restored by Sterling Building & Restoration using antique lumber materials and carefully recreating historically accurate trim, windows and doors.

Seth Bishop House (1796)

Seth Bishop House (1796)

The house at 64 Fair Street in Guilford was built in 1796 by Seth Bishop. He soon mortgaged the house to brothers Joel and Nathaniel Griffing and sold it in 1801 to Captain Joel Griffing (1762-1826). His brother, Judge Nathaniel Griffing (1767-1845), lived in a similar house nearby at 6 Fair Street that Joel had previously owned. From 1802 to 1825, the south chamber on the second floor of the Bishop House (which has a ceiling a foot higher than the other rooms) and two adjacent rooms, were used for meetings of St. Alban’s Lodge No. 38, a Masonic Lodge that now meets in Branford. A history of the Lodge indicates that on several occasions, meeting were canceled so as not to disturb a sick member of the Griffing family.

Elisha Stevens House (1863)

385 Main St., Cromwell

The Italianate house at 385 Main Street in Cromwell was built circa 1863 and once had a stuccoed brownstone exterior that was incised to resemble dressed masonry. The house has many high style decorative features. The front veranda dates to the later nineteenth century. The house was built by Elisha Stevens, who founded J. & E. Stevens with his brother John in 1843. The company produced toys and hardware and Elisha Stevens became very wealthy. In 1869 he started a new company with toy designer George W. Brown called Stevens & Brown. The company failed in 1874 and a bankrupt Stevens had to sell the house. In 1875 it was acquired by Osbourn Coe, a Middlefield farmer, who occupied it until his death in 1899. The house is currently part of a large health care facility and is connected to modern additions.