Capt. William Clift House (1838)

At 193 High Street in Mystic stands a house that began as a Greek Revival-style three-bay gable-front home, but was much expanded in later years with large Queen Anne-style addition with a tower. The early section of the house was built in 1838 by Captain William Clift (1805-1882), a Mystic ship captain. The house stayed in the Clift family until 1918 and in 1939 it was deeded to the Mystic Home. Since 1976, it has been owned by Noank Baptist Group Homes. Called High Street House, it provides therapeutic services for six young women, ages 14-18, who are transitioning back to their families from more secure facilities.

Rev. John Bates Ballard House (1840)

At 24 Linwood Avenue in Colchester, next to the Cragin Memorial Library, is a historic house which is now home to the Colchester Historical Society. Built around 1840 by Reverend John Bates Ballard, a Baptist minister, it is transitional between the Greek Revival and Italianate styles. The house remained in the Ballard family until 1908, when it was bequeathed to the Colchester Borough Baptist Church for use as a parsonage. After the Baptist congregation merged with the Colchester Federated Church in 1949, the house passed through various owners. By the 1990s, it was in a dilapidated state, but was saved with grant money and funds from the Colchester Historical Society (founded in 1963). It is now a museum of the town’s history.

Eliel Williams House (1769)

Happy Thanksgiving! A classic example of a colonial house with few alterations is the Eliel Williams House, at 82 Elm Street in Rocky Hill, built in 1769. According to Vol. 3 of the Encyclopedia of Connecticut Biography (1917), Corporal Eliel Williams was

born in Stepney Parish, January 30, 1746, died there August 2, 1819. He was one of the four corporals enrolled under Captain John Chester, and sent from Wethersfield on the Lexington Alarm and fought at Bunker Hill. He married Comfort Morton, a maternal descendant of Governor Thomas Welles, and her great-great-paternal grandmother, Honor Treat, was a sister of Governor Robert Treat, and wife of John Deming, one of the first settlers of Wethersfield.

The house is also known as the Merriam Williams House, after Eliel Williams’ son. According to the same source quoted above,

Merriam Williams, son of Corporal Eliel Williams, was born in Stepney Parish, July 3, 1785, and died May 10, 1857. He was a tanner and currier and shoe manufacturer of Rocky Hill, also a landowner and farmer. He married Elizabeth Danforth, daughter of Thomas Danforth, a manufacturer and merchant of Rocky Hill.

Leonard Asheim House (1910)

The Colonial Revival-style house at 2345 North Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1910. It was the home of Leonard Asheim, an architect who designed many prominent religious and municipal buildings in Bridgeport in the 1910s to 1940s, including Achavath Achim Synagogue and the Klein Memorial Auditorium. In front of the house stands a Franklin milestone, inscribed “20 miles to N.H.” It originally stood on the nearby training ground (now part of Clinton Park) and was reset by the D.A.R. in 1913 on the front lawn of 2345 North Avenue. (more…)

Frederick A. Benjamin Homestead (1854)

At 1135 West Broad Street in Stratford is an impressive Italianate villa, considered to be one of Connecticut’s best examples of the style. It was built in 1854 on the site of the old Benjamin Tavern where Washington and Lafayette are said to have dined on September 19, 1780. They were served potatoes, which were then a rare delicacy. Col. Aaron Benjamin served in most of the major battles of the Revolutionary War. His son, Frederick A. Benjamin, became a successful New York merchant. In 1852, Frederick A. Benjamin retired and returned to the old homestead in Stratford, which he soon replaced with a new mansion, designed by architect Frederick Schmidt. Benjamin’s son, Arthur Bedell Benjamin (d. 1914), was a prolific photographer and a yachtsman who owned the steam yacht Continental.

Portuguese Holy Ghost Society and Club of Stonington (1836)

Since 1929, the Portuguese Holy Ghost Society and Club of Stonington has used the house at 26 Main Street as its club building. Every year, the club celebrates the Azorean Holy Ghost Festival, a traditional feast that goes back to Queen Isabel of Portugal (1271-1336), also known as Elizabeth, who devoted herself to helping the poor and feeding the famine-stricken Portuguese people. She was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1625. The house was built in 1836 by Courtlandt Palmer (1800-1874), first president of the Stonington & Providence Railroad, and it remained in his family until 1913.