Utley-Hubbard House (1830)

The house at 127 Chaplin Street in Chaplin was built c. 1830 (with an ell added c. 1840) for James Russell Utley (1811-1896), a farmer who had a 1,500 acre farm and whose brother, John Kingsbury Utley, lived next door. James R. Utley also served in the state assembly in 1866. In 1938, the Hubbard family moved to the house (also known as the Holt House) and farm from New Britain. After her parents death, Mary MacNaughton Hubbard (called Mollie) lived in the house until 1987. A nature enthusiast, she worked as a scientific illustrator and an academic advisor in the Biology Department at the University of Connecticut. In 1985, Mollie Hubbard donated 38 acres in Chaplin to Joshua’s Trust. The land is known as Hubbard Sanctuary. She also donated land to the Town of Chaplin for its town offices and Edward Garrison Park.

Charles H. Smith House (1882)

At 53 Pearl Street in Noank is a Victorian house built in 1882. It is known as the Charles H. Smith House. This may be the same Charles H. Smith described in the Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, Vol. VII, 1909-1910:

Charles H. Smith, of Noank, town of Groton. and a native of that town. was born September 10. 1851. He received his education in the public schools of Noank, and 0n November 16, 1872. married Mary E. Potter, who died June 9, 1905. Mr. Smith began the business of boat and yacht building thirtyfive years ago and by industry and honest dealing, built up a large business. About five years ago be disposed of this business to the firm of Smith & Barry. and is now retired. Mr. Smith has always been a staunch Republican, and enjoys the fullest confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. regardless of party affiliations. He is a conservative man and uses his thorough knowledge of public affairs to the best advantage. and his advice is frequently sought in public as well as in private affairs. He has been a member of the General Assembly three terms, in 1891-92, serving as a member of the Committee on Fisheries, in 1895-96, being chairman of the same committee. and this session he was a member of the Committee on Fish and Game.

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Roman Fyler Tavern (1794)

The house at 153 Chapel Road in Winchester Center was originally erected as a tavern, as described in Annals and Family Records of Winchester, Conn. (1873), by John Boyd:

Roman Fyler from Torrington, bought from Martin North, Jr., the Noble J. Everitt place, a third of a mile south of the Winchester Meeting-house. In 1794, in company with Reuben Marshall, he built the Washington Hatch house at the center, in the north wing of which they kept a country store, while Mr. Fyler kept a tavern in the body of the house. About 1800 he removed to Burke, Caledonia Co., Vt., where he resided during his remaining life.

Roman Fyler sold his business to John Chester Riley. As related by Boyd, in 1800 Riley

bought of Fyler and Marshall the Washington Hatch place at the center, where he traded and kept a tavern. In 1807 he built a store at the parting of the Old Country road and the Waterbury turnpike, in which he did an extensive business until his failure in 1816. Being a Jeffersonian in politics, while most of the traders of his day and vicinity were of the Federal School, he drew in to a large extent the trade of those of his own faith in this and the neighboring towns. After his failure, he was confined on the jail limits at Litchfield for a considerable time, and continued to reside there during his remaining life. He lived a bachelor until past middle age, and married at Litchfield.

The tavern eventually became the property of Washington Hatch and was known as Hatch’s Tavern.

Ezra Kelsey House (1815)

The house at 372 Saybrook Road in Higganum in Haddam was built in 1815 by Ezra Kelsey (1789-1881), a blacksmith whose shop was at Higganum Landing, where he supplied the shipbuilding industry. The house’s rear ell, which was moved from the edge of the Connecticut River, may date eighteenth century. The house remained in the Kelsey family until 1964. Ezra’s grandson, Horatio Nelson Kelsey, began using the house as a summer home in 1917 and his daughter, Burnette Kelsey (1898-1988), ran Miss Kelsey’s kindergarten in the house from the 1940s to the early 1960s. She sold the house to Richard and Marjorie DeBold, who have maintained such features as the circa-1820 Chinese-themed dining room wallpaper and the beam by the front door, where members of the Kelsey family marked their heights for several generations.

Stephen Main House (1781)

The house at 1 Wyassup Road in North Stonington, known as the Stephen Main Homestead, is the headquarters of the North Stonington Historical Society. Built in 1781, the house was first owned by Luther Avery, who ran Avery Mills in town. Stephen Main bought the house in 1861. Born in North Stonington in 1805, Main went to New York City at age seventeen. There he ran a successful butter stall and became an extensive dealer in real estate. He returned to North Stonington in 1856 and purchased a sawmill and gristmill, located at the site of the lower dam on the Shunock River. He apparently constructed the present dam about 1850. The house was later owned by Fred Stewart Greene, an artist who was born in North Stonington, but was raised in Westerly, RI, where he later had his art studio. From 1911-1923, Greene operated an art school at Greene Gables cottage on the Hewitt Farm (in 2017 the town voted to demolish the cottage, which had been deemed unsafe). The North Stonington Historical Society, founded in 1970, acquired the Stephen Main House from Greene’s heirs in 1980.

Nelson Peck House (1851)

The house at 104 Peck Road in Bethany was erected sometime before 1851, at which time it was the property of Noyes Hotchkiss (1814-1866). It was acquired in 1867 by Justus Peck (1807-1885) for his son, Harry French Peck (died 1916), a blacksmith who made ox yokes and wagons (the house was conveyed by Justus to Harry in 1870). Harry’s son Nelson Justus Peck (died 1958) was born in the house in 1874 and the residence is named after him in the 1972 book Bethany’s Old Houses and Community Buildings, by Alice Bice Bunton.