William H. Barns House (1852)

Dates given for the William H. Barns House, at 17 Granite Street in New London, vary widely, including 1850, 1852, 1865 and 1875. Perhaps the house was built in the 1850s in the Italianate style, with the Second Empire mansard roof being added later. The Colonial Revival front entrance is probably also a later alteration. The house also has unusual flush board walls. William H. Barns, son of Acors Barns, succeeded his father as president of the National Bank of Commerce, serving from 1862 to 1866. He was also involved in the founding of other banks.

Robert Coit House (1856)

The Robert Coit House is a brick Italianate house on Federal Street, facing the mouth of Prospect Street, in New London. It was built in 1856 for Robert Coit (1785-1874), a merchant who dealt in lumber and coal and owned a chandlery, which outfitted ships for whaling voyages. Coit was also a founder of the Saving Bank of New London, formed in 1827, and served as the bank’s president from 1852 to 1858. The house originally had a wooden bay window over the front that was later removed and bricked in.

Jabez Smith House (1793)

The Jabez Smith House in Groton has remained virtually unchanged since it was built in 1783. The original farmer on the property, in 1652, was Nehemiah Smith, who raised sheep and horses and grew flax and tobacco. His descendant, Nathan Smith, built the current house after the original house burned down. He then passed it on to his son, Jabez and two more generations of Smiths followed in the house. It was later used by Ann Graham Clarke of New York as a weekend retreat. She left it to the town in 1974 and, after her death in 1980, the house became a museum.

Eliphalet Walker House (1855)

The Walker House, at 250 Ellsworth Street, in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, dates to around 1855. It is said to have been built by Oliver Walker, a partner in the Walker-Rew Shipyard, but is named for Eliphalet Walker, also a shipyard owner. The house, which is Black Rock’s most striking Italianate-style home, was extensively renovated seven years ago, when the rear third of the house was removed and completely rebuilt.