Rose Cottage (1886)

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Zebulon Hancox (1809-1899) was a notable eccentric and recluse in Stonington. The descendant of an old Stonington family, local legend claims that the girl he wanted to marry rejected him due to his poverty, so he devoted himself to making enough money to satisfy her. He did this as a fisherman and pioneering real-estate developer, who saved all he could, even to the extent of making all of his own clothes and wood buttons. Although he died at 91 with a significant sum, he ended up having never married. A number of houses he built, between 1868 and 1897, survive on Hancox Street in Stonington Borough. Adjacent to the water, these were originally unadorned two-story structures following the same basic plan and intended as houses for rental. Over the years, they have been greatly altered. One example is Rose Cottage, constructed in 1886, which has had numerous additions and embellishments.

Denison Homestead (1717)

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The Denison Homestead is the third successive house to be built on the land granted to Captain George Denison in 1654 in the Town of Stonington‘s half of Mystic (which is a census-designated place). Its immediate predecessor burned in a fire in 1717, the night before George Denison‘s grandson, known as “George the Builder,” was married. This grandson then built the current house just west of the original home, using charred timbers from the old house. The house, which became known as Pequotsepos Manor, continued to be the home of generations of the Denison family. In 1930, Ann Borodell Denison Gates created the Denison Society and after her death, in 1941, the house became the Denison Homestead Museum. Located on Pequotsepos Road in Mystic, the museum presents a different period of time the history of the Denison family in each of its rooms.


This is Historic Buildings of Connecticut’s 500th Post
(not including the April Fools Day post)