The impressive Colonial Revival house at 893 Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1903 for Albert S. Wells, general superintendent of the Bridgeport Malleable Iron Company. In 2010, Bridgeport’s Zoning Board of Appeals rejected a proposal to establish a group home for homeless women veterans in the Wells House. Local residents had been fighting to preserve the residential character of their neighborhood.
The Phelps-Tiffany Tavern, at 432 East River Road in Riverton, was built in 1813 as a private residence by Pelatiah Ransom, Jr. and later served as a tavern. The Tavern’s Federal-style fanlight over the front door was later covered.
This is my 2,000 building post on Historic Buildings of Connecticut! Part of the purpose of this blog is to celebrate historic structures so that people won’t be inclined to tear them down. Sometimes, however, great buildings are not maintained and some are in danger of being destroyed. A case in point is the Erastus Brainerd, Jr. House, part of the campus of the former Elmcrest Hospital in Portland, which is slated for demolition. Erastus Brainerd Jr.‘s father established the Brainerd Quarry Company in Portland and owned the Hart/Jarvis House next door (also facing demolition) [see this pdf and this pdf]. The Brainerd House, built around 1852, is particularly notable because it was designed by the great New Haven architect Henry Austin. Pictured in the image above is the house’s grand front entry porch, which has fluted columns on floral urns with ogee arched decorative brackets supporting a balustraded roof. These houses should be saved! (Note this pdf and this pdf)
Built c. 1860-1865, the William J. Clark House is an Italianate-style residence in the Plantsville section of Southington. It originally stood on the southeast corner of Main and South Main Streets, but was later moved to 40 Cowles Street. William J. Clark established the Clark Brothers Bolt Company with his brothers Charles and Henry.
The house at 346 Main Street South in Woodbury was built between 1751 and 1757, with a larger addition dating to the 1760s. Cyrus Lee, the original owner, operated a tavern in the house and a subsequent owner, Captain Isaac Tomlinson, built an addition which served as an inn and tavern and had a second-floor ball room. Julia Marshall, the next owner, had a bar room on the premises. The use of the house for business purposes continued in the twentieth century and, from the 1940s, it housed antiques shops under several owners. The house has a large addition, with separate living quarters, built in 2000. Today the house is home to The joannajohn Collection.
Next to the William Albertson House, on Vauxhall Street in New London, is a Greek Revival house built by Thomas Fitch in 1846. Fitch was a developer who laid out streets and sold house lots in the Post Hill area of New London. In 1862, Fitch sold his house to Hiram Willey, who served as mayor of New London from 1862 to 1865. Willey sold the property in 1875 to Thomas M. Waller, who also served as mayor (1873-1879) and later as Governor of Connecticut (1883-1884). While Waller owned the house, the front door facing Channing Street was moved to face Vauxhall Street. Further alterations (in the Colonial Revival style) were made to the house in 1913 by Waller’s son, Charles B. Waller.
The house at 92 High Street in Mystic is a Greek Revival residence built in 1854. The house has prominent Queen Anne additions: a three-story octagonal tower and a front porch with a pediment containing a sunburst design. The house is named for Mrs. Hannah Fish Brush, who died in 1877. Her husband, Thomas Brush, passed away in 1869. Does a Brush still live in the house?
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