Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Houses

Gridley-Munson House (1849)

Having built a store north of the Congregational Church in Watertown in 1846, Amos Gridley built his Italianate-style house next door (10 Deforest Street) in 1849. Gridley eventually went bankrupt. The house had other owners. In 1912, James Woolson remodeled it in the colonial revival style, adding the porches on the side of the house (the front portico is original). The house was later owned by William J. Munson, who donated the house and land to the town in 1928 in memory of his wife. The house now contains the Board of Education offices and the land, known as the Marion B. Munson Memorial Park, is joined to the Watertown Public Green.

Ernest W. Hanke House (1915)

The colonial revival house at 552 Maplewood Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1915 for Ernest W. Hanke. He was the president of the Hanke Hat Company.

Joseph A. Lord House (1835)

Built circa 1838, the Joseph A. Lord House in located at 30 Main Street in East Haddam. In 1919 the house was acquired by Henrietta More Crook, wife of Dr. Joseph Bruce Crook (1886-1945). He added an ell to the house to use as his medical office. Now home to an insurance company, the house also has a circa 1920 hipped roof portico over the front entrance.

Holmes Morse House (1874)

A Victorian Italianate home among the many colonial and colonial revival houses of Litchfield is the Holmes Morse House at 135 South Street. The house was built in 1874 and in 1920 was listed as the home of Betsy F. Morse (possibly the widow of Holmes Morse?) I don’t know the relationship of Holmes Morse and Holmes O. Morse, who was on the Board of Directors of the Shepaug Railroad Company, became Commissioner of the Superior Court from Litchfield in 1884 and died in 1898.

Moses Rowe House (1767)

The Moses Rowe House is located at 78 South Main Street in Suffield. It is a colonial house, built in 1767, that was later altered in the Greek Revival style, when the roof was also raised.

Timothy Phelps House (1795)

The house at 155 South Main Street in Suffield was built in 1795 by Joseph Howard, a skilled cabinetmaker and woodworker, for Timothy Phelps. The house is a fine example of the classical detailing of the the Federal style. Capt. Timothy Phelps served in the War of 1812 and was successful in the tannery business.

The Quiet House (1766)

The house at 711 Main Street in Plymouth Center was built in 1765-1766 and was owned by Major David Smith, who served with George Washington at Valley Forge. Washington stayed at this house in September 1780 on his way to meet the Comte de Rochambeau in Hartford. The house was later (c. 1850) operated as an inn by A.B. Curtiss and, after his death, by his widow. It was called it the Quiet House because alcohol was not served. As related in the History of the town of Plymouth, Connecticut (1895):

A. B. Curtiss was born in the town of Plymouth in 1819, and died at the age of sixty-seven. While a boy he entered the store of Edwin Talmadge as clerk, and his aptness for business and pleasant manners so commended him to his employer that when he became of age he was taken into partnership. The firm did a large business for those days, but unfortunate endorsements caused their downfall. Mr. Curtiss started in business again in the Stephen Mitchell store, but soon after bought the property where he died, remodeled the house, and opened a hotel. Except for a couple of years, when he kept the Brown hotel in Waterbury, he had for forty years welcomed strangers to his house and catered to their wants. He was well fitted for a landlord by his care to have everything pleasant, his genial hearty manners and business like ways. He was a benevolent, public spirited man. always ready to do his full share in common enterprises. His later years were full of suffering, yet to the last he had a bright and cheery word for each friend and acquaintance. Mrs. A. B. Curtiss still keeps the doors of the Quiet house open to strangers and travelers, some of whom often travel out of their way to indulge in the homelike accommodations that are to be had there.