John Johnson House (1750)

Located at 19 Maiden Lane in Durham, the John Johnson House, with its unusually non-symmetrical configuration, was associated with several important local stone carvers. It was built between 1743 and 1750 as a dwelling and stone-carving shop by Thomas Spelman and Noah Lyman. Spelman was a gravestone carver who sold his half of the partnership with Noah Lyman and moved to Granville, Massachusetts in the early 1850s. Noah Lyman sold to Elizabeth Austin in 1761 and she and her husband Jesse sold to John Johnson, Jr. in 1773. Johnson came from a family of stone carvers in Middletown and became a successful farmer in Durham and a deacon of the town’s Congregational church. A brownstone quarry was located on the south side of Maiden Lane, which may have been the source of the stone Johnson carved for the town’s cemeteries. Johnson and his wife Abigail had three unmarried daughters: Rhoda, Eunice, Nabby, Nancy and Almira. Every Sunday, they would walk to church in single file in order of their ages. In 1825, Johnson sold the house to his daughters, for whom Maiden Lane was named.

Anson J. Allen House (1834)

The house at 398 Main Street in the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford was built in 1834 as a Greek Revival house. Alterations in the Italianate style, including the addition of the front porch, were made around 1874. By that time, the house was owned by Anson J. Allen. With his brother, Samuel Allen, Anson owned a brass foundry begun by their brother Philemon. Selling the foundry in 1867, Samuel, as senior partner, and Anson operated a mercantile business in Pine Meadow. Samuel’s nearby Greek Revival house is at 405 Main Street. Anson J. Allen was born in Barkhamsted, educated at the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield (now Suffield Academy), and served in the state legislature. His house is now a bed & breakfast called the Pine Meadow House.

Joseph Isham House (1765)

The house at 23 Hayward Avenue in Colchester was built in 1765 for Joseph Isham, Jr. after his marriage to Sarah, daughter of Dr. Oliver Bulkeley (who provided the land for building the house). Isham operated a store and served in the Commissary Department during the Revolutionary War. After his death in 1810, Sarah lived in the house until 1834. The gambrel-roofed building originally had a large center chimney, which was taken down around 1820 by Isham’s son, Ralph Isham, who replaced it with two smaller chimneys and used the extra stone to build the foundation of his new house, next door at 11 Hayward Avenue. From 1834 until his death in 1852, Benjamin Swan, Jr., lived in the house. Originally from Woodstock, Vermont, he had married Ralph’s daughter Ann and worked for the Hayward Rubber Company. Later owners substantially altered the colonial house, adding a tall central wall dormer projecting from the gambrel roof, a large cupola and a porch across the front of the house.

Stone-Otis House (1830)

The Town of Orange was incorporated in 1822 and soon new buildings began to be constructed in the vicinity of the new town’s Green. The Stone-Otis House was one such structure, built around 1830 for Dennis Stone. A prominent citizen, Stone owned the town’s second general store, located in his home. Around 1840, he added a large front display window to the house for the store. Stone and his family later moved to Kansas. The house, which is transitional between the Federal and Greek Revival styles, was sold Phoebe and Charles Otis, a tool and dye maker, in 1887. The family sold the house to the town in 1966. The restored house is now a museum and the headquarters of the Orange Historical Society.

Samuel C. Morgan House (1843)

Samuel C. Morgan (1789-1876) was born in Lisbon, graduated from Yale in 1812, trained as a lawyer and in 1815 began his practice in Jewett City. In 1842, he was elected president of the Quinebaug Bank and moved to Norwich. The Quinebaug Bank had been founded in 1832 and became the First National Bank in 1865. His house in Norwich, at 3 Crossway Street, was built around 1843. The house has interesting corner pilasters with H-shaped moldings.