Moorlands (1836)

Moorlands is the name of the circa 1836 house that was the Fairfield home of Henry Sheaff Glover, who also resided in New York City. In later years, after their father’s death, Dawson Coleman Glover, married Elizabeth Fowler (1913) and Harriet Coleman Glover married Gardner Willard Millett (1914). Their brother, John Le Roy Gover, attended Yale in 1914-1916. The house, at 290 Beach Road, was built on the site of the Buckley Tavern, built around 1740-1750. According to Benson J. Lossing’s Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. I (1851), when the British forces of Major General William Tryon landed and burned Fairfield in 1779, the Buckley Tavern was saved:

Tryon made it his head-quarters. The naval officer who had charge of the British ships, and piloted them to Fairfield, was Mrs. Buckley’s brother, and he had requested Tryon to spare the house of his sister. Tryon acquiesced, and, feeling his indebtedness to her brother, the general informed Mrs. Buckley that if there was any other house she wished to save she should be gratified. After the enemy left, the enraged militia, under Captain Sturges, placed a field piece in front of the dwelling, and then sent Mrs. Buckley word that she might have two hours to clear the house, and leave it, or they would blow her to atoms. She found means to communicate a notice of her situation to General Silliman, who was about two miles distant. He immediately went to the town, and found one hundred and fifty men at the cannon. By threats and persuasion he induced them to withdraw. The next day Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, with his regiment, arrived from White Plains, and, encamping on the smoking ruins, made Tryon’s quarters his own

Observing the Buckley House not long before it was replaced, John Warner Barber wrote in his Connecticut Historical Collections (1836) that:

At the time of the invasion of the British, a 24 pound shot which was fired from Black Rock, entered the chimney. In the entrance at the door, are still to be seen the marks of twenty seven bullets, on the stair way. The heat was so great during the conflagration, that all the window glass in front of this house were broken.

Irwin House (1953)

The Irwin House is a mid-century Modern house, designed by Victor Christ-Janer and constructed by builder Robert Roles as a speculative house in 1953. Located on Wahackme Road in New Canaan, the house is named for its first owner, William A. Irwin, Jr., who purchased it in 1954. A fire in 1972 caused substantial damage to the house, but it was rebuilt following the original plans. Alterations were made in the 1980s to the house’s porches and balcony.

Richard and Geraldine Hodgson House (1951)

Across the street from Philip Johnson‘s own residence, the famous Glass House, is the home he designed, with Landis Gores, for Richard and Geraldine Hodgson. Richard Hodgson was an engineer who was important in developing America’s high-trch sector. When the house was built, he worked at Chromatic Television Laboratories and was later president and CEO of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, where he established the Semiconductor Division. Since the Hodgson’s had difficulty getting a mortgage for a Modern house, it was built in two stages: the main house was built in 1950-1951 and the bedroom wing in 1956-1957.

Alice Ball House (1953)

 

 

New Canaan is famed for its mid-century modern houses, many designed by the group of architects called the Harvard Five, one whom, Philip Johnson, designed the Alice Ball House on Oenoke Road. This relatively small residence was built in 1953 as a one-story, two-bedroom home. Johnson was influenced by Mies van de Rohe‘s courtyard homes and his unbuilt Resor House. The minimalist Ball House was altered somewhat by later owners over the years. In recent years, the house that Johnson called his ‘little jewel’ was in danger of demolition, after the current owner’s plan to adapt it as a pool house for a much larger home on the property fell through. It was eventually decided to sell the house, which has remained on the market for several years.

2019 Update: Current plans are to join the house to a new home, called Wall House, designed by Postmodernist designer Reja Bakh.

Vine Cottage (1859)

The Town of New Canaan‘s Human Services Department is located in Vine Cottage, a Gothic Revival house with a Queen Anne-style tower. Although dated to around 1859, the house is possibly an earlier one that was later much altered to its present appearance. Built by Sereno Ogden, the house has had a number of owners over the years, including Albert Comstock in the 1860s and Fletcher Porter Corry, who worked in the post office and bought the house in 1925. His family owned it until 1996, after which the town successfully bid to acquire the house.

Comstock-Bensen House (1842)

The Comstock-Bensen House is a Greek Revival home at the northwest corner of Main Street and Heritage Hill Road in New Canaan. It was built around 1842 by Edson Bradley on land he had purchased from Seymour Comstock. Bradley was a partner in the shoe-making company of Bradley and Benedict. Business was disrupted by the Civil War and in 1871 Bradley retired and sold his home to Albert Comstock, the brother of Seymour Comstock, who lived next door. Albert Comstock was partner in the clothing business of Comstock and Rogers. He and his wife also helped to found the New Canaan Historical Society, whose early meetings were held in the couple’s house. The house later passed through other owners, being acquired by the Bensen family in 1926.

Shailer-Banning House (1810)

Shailer-Banning House

Built around 1810, on Bridge Road in Haddam, the Shailer-Banning House originally had a gable roof, which was altered to the current hip roof around 1840. At that time, the house was also probably stuccoed. The house was built by David Shailer and later was home to his daughter, Ursula, and her husband, Benjamin Banning, who were married in 1835. Their daughter, Anna U. Minor, then lived in the house until 1874. Update: See comment below about the demolition of this house.