James Humphrey House (1790)

The house at 285 Cherry Brook Road in Canton was built by James Humphrey, Sr between 1790 and 1800. The house has two ells that were added later: one in the rear and a large one on the south side that at various times has housed a second family. The Richardson family occupied the house for several generations. Teachers often boarded in the house during the years that the Center District School was located across the meadow road.

Alexander Catlin House (1778)

The Alexander Catlin House, built in 1778, is located at 258 North Street in Litchfield, where the street splits into Goshen Road and Norfolk Road. The colonial home features a gambrel roof and widow’s walk. The house was built by Alexander Catlin, one of the founders of the Litchfield China Trading Company. This may be Alexander Catlin, Sr. (son of John Catlin), who was born in Litchfield in 1738 and died in Burlington, Vermont in 1809. Later owners of the house included Stephen Deming and M. W. and K. L. Buel.

Gideon Kinne House (1840)

The house at 1392 Main Street in Glastonbury was erected c. 1840. In the mid-1850s, it became the home of Gideon Kinne (1807-1890), a stone mason and farmer. He was the son of Aaron Kinne, Jr. (1773-1815), a merchant, who was the first member of the Kinne family to settle in Glastonbury. Gideon married Sally (or Sallie) Ann Taylor and had four children. Two of his sons, Aaron and James, were Civil War veterans who became merchants in Fort Edward, New York. The house has extensive rear additions.

Deacon Robert Palmer House (1884)

One of Noank‘s most memorable buildings is the grand Victorian residence at 81 Pearl Street. It was erected in 1884 by Robert Palmer, a deacon in the Noank Baptist Church. Robert Palmer (1825-1913) and his brother John developed the Palmer Shipyard (now known as the Noank Shipyard) begun by their father, John Palmer, Sr. Robert Palmer is featured in “The Village Feudists,” one of the stories in Theodore Dreiser’s Twelve Men (1919). After John’s death in 1879, Robert brought his son, Robert, Jr., into the partnership. Robert Palmer, Jr. would run the shipyard until his death in 1914. Deacon Palmer’s house displays a variety of Victorian-era stick-style elements and “gingerbread” trim. The porch’s wood decoration includes a rail and frieze made of panels with geometric cut-outs and the porch screen consists of fifteen panels, each with an intricate design depicting scenes from Aesop’s Fables. The second-floor balcony is also an exuberant example of the woodworker’s art. The house remained in the Palmer family for many years: Deacon Palmer’s granddaughter, Grace Knapp, lived in the house from 1923 until shortly before her death in 1959. She sold it to E. William Gourde and his wife, who had long admired the house. They restored and painted the home for the first time in fifty-five years. The house was sold again in 1970 and in 1992.

Josiah Boardman House (1734)

Josiah Boardman (1705-1781) was one of the earliest settlers of the Westfield section of Middletown. He acquired land there in 1727, but is thought to have built his house (at the current address of 953 East Street) circa 1734, the year he married Rachel Cole. The house was later expanded, probably at an early date, with a two-bay addition to the north of the original five-bay section. The house also has a modern garage. Josiah Boardman is described as follows in the Commemorative Biographical Record of Middlesex County, Connecticut (1903):

Josiah Boardman, the third in the above named family, removed from his native town of Wethersfield to Middletown and settled with the Westfield Society November 29, 1727. Samuel Galpin, of Kensington parish, Middletown, sold to Josiah Boardman, of the same parish, IOO acres of land in the northwest corner of Middletown. The farm of his brother, Edward, lay next to it. Josiah and wife joined the Kensington Congregational Church, which was nearer their home than that of Middletown, and he held membership in this congregation at the time of his death, January 29, 1781. On August 5, 1734, he was married to Rachel Cole, who was born in 1712, and died February 29, 1782, the mother of ten children[.]

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Miller-Abel House (1848)

At 116–118 Way Road in Middlefield is a Greek Revival-style house, originally erected circa 1846 as a two-family house by Watrous I. Miller (1822-1885) and William P. Abel (1811-1848), on land the former had acquired from his father Jeremiah the year before. In 1846 Watrous sold the property to his brother Isaac W. Miller (1819-1891), with Abel (who was Watrous and Isaac’s brother-in-law) retaining a half interest in the house. The western wing of the house may have functioned as a tin shop used by Isaac, who was a tinsmith.