Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Houses

Henry Barbour House (1760)

The house at 225 Barbourtown Road in Canton began as a story-and-a-half house, built around 1760 by Moses Gaines, who was married to Lucy Barber. He sold it to John Barber, Jr., in 1775. It was acquired by Henry Barber/Barbour in 1819 and in 1822 he added the second floor and attic, reusing the original attic beams. The house was later owned by the Gillette family. In 1930, Kent Gillette sold the house and extensive property to F. Morgan Cowles, Jr., who used it as a summer home. Frederic (Ted) Morgan Cowles III, moved into the house with his wife, Jan, in 1987. They constructed an addition that is now rented out. In 2007, the couple donated an easement of about 32 acres of the property to the Canton Land Conservation Trust to preserve it from development. (more…)

George O. Bingham House (1841)

The Greek Revival house at 70 Hebron Road in Andover was built in 1841 by George Oliver Bingham (1810-1892). The land on which the house was built had been in the Bingham family since 1752, when it was acquired by Eleazer Bingham. It passed to Eleazer’s son, Stephen, and then to Stephen’s son, Harvey. In 1841, Harvey’s daughter, Sarah L. Bingham, sold one and a half acres to her brother, George, who built the house. Nearby, at 55 Hebron Road, is another Greek Revival house, built around the same time by George’s brother, John F. Bingham.

Moses Latham House (1845)

The Moses Latham House is an elaborately decorated residence at 59 Main Street in the village of Noank in Groton. It is transitional in style, being Greek Revival, but with elements of the Federal, like the gable fanlight window.

Victorian House Restaurant (1871)

The Victorian House Restaurant, at 226 Maple Avenue in Cheshire, was built as a private residence in 1871. (more…)

Dominick Venturo House (1911)

The house at 245 Main Street in Berlin was built in 1911 by Dominick Venturo, a maker of ice cream and cider. The house’s masonry construction, which contrasts red and yellow brick, and use of segmental-arched windows are features associated with early twentieth century homes built by Italian immigrants.

Josiah Twitchell House (1775)

Notable for its elaborate front entryway, the house at 11 Christian Street in Oxford is believed to have been built around 1775 by Josiah Twitchell.

Hall-Wilson Cottage (1910)

The summer cottage at 11 Pettipaug Avenue in the Borough of Fenwick in Old Saybrook was built in 1910 for the Hall and Wilson families. It was erected on what had previously been the site of the 1885 cottage of Henry Morgan. That cottage was long rented by John Henry Hall and his family. Hall was one of the family that owned the Portland brownstone quarries and was a president of Colt Firearms. The Halls purchased the Morgan Cottage in 1901 and sold it to Ernest Wilson, who moved it to its current address at 4 Agawam Avenue. The Halls then built the current cottage, which was later owned by their grandson, John C. Wilson, Jr. You can read more about the cottage in Marion Hepburn Grant’s The Fenwick Story (Connecticut Historical Society, 1974), pages 114-115.