Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Andover

Phelps-Bingham House (1740)

Aaron Phelps was a successful farmer in Andover who built one of the first mills on Staddle Brook and also donated land in 1747 for the future town‘s first Congregational meetinghouse. He also donated land for a road to neighboring Hebron. In 1740 Phelps erected a house at what is now 40 Hebron Road. His house and barn were often used for worship services and Society meetings before the meetinghouse was built. Phelps’ house has a one-room deep main block with a rear ell and a later Greek Revival doorway. After Phelps died in 1750, 112 acres of his property on both sides of Hebron Road, including the house, were acquired by the Bingham family.

Bazaleel Hutchinson House (1839)

In the nineteenth century there was a railroad depot at Andover Center. In 1839 Leonard Hendee, the first depot master, who did much to develop the area, sold land on Center Street to Bazaleel Hutchinson who erected the house that now stands at 8 Center Street. Bazaleel Hutchinson was a grocer, butcher and farmer. The house has an unusual doorway that has a narrow surround with corner blocks.

Andover Congregational Chapel (1860)

Adjacent to the Congregational Church in Andover is the Congregational Chapel. According to the nomination for the Andover Center Historic District, it was built c. 1860, but the Town of Andover’s website calls it the Conference House and explains that it was built not long after the neighboring church, which was erected in 1833. The Conference House was constructed with timbers and other materials salvaged from the church’s first meeting house, built c. 1748. A versatile building, it was used for public meetings, elections and the local court until the Town Hall was built in 1893; as the town’s library from 1882 to 1927; as a town schoolhouse from 1888 to 1903; and as a meeting place for The Grange and other local organizations.

John F. Bingham House (1840)

The Greek Revival house at 55 Hebron Road in Andover was built in 1840 by John F. Bingham (1808-1844). The Bingham family were descendants of Eleazar Bingham, who purchased land in Andover in 1750 that passed to his grandson, Cyrus Bingham. John F. Bingham was the nephew of Cyrus (he was the son of Cyrus’ brother Harvey Bingham). He received a farm where he built his house and also had a sawmill on Straddle Brook. He also served as Justice of the Peace.

Elijah House House (1784)

At the Corner of Hebron Road and Center Street in Andover is a house built by Elijah House in 1784. Elijah House (1745-1823), descended from a prominent family from Rhode Island, is said to have been bankrupted after lending money to the French soldiers encamped in Lebanon during the Revolutionary War in 1781, but rebounded enough to build his house in Andover three years later. House was a merchant who inherited his father John House‘s property in Hebron and Coventry in 1801. On his land, Elijah House had a merchant shop, a slaughterhouse, soap-making equipment and a paper mill. He leased his operations to his son, Simon, in 1815. The house has been much altered over the years.

Phelps-Bingham Barn (1780)

According to the barn survey information at Historic Barns of Connecticut, the barn at 41 Hebron Road in Andover dates to 1780. An English side-entry barn, it was moved to its current address from further up the road. Its owner dismantled and rebuilt it in 1998 to reflect its original period. The nomination for the Andover Center Historic District dates the barn to c. 1850. The barn is associated with the Phelps-Bingham House, a colonial house across the street.

Isaiah Daggett House (1805)

Isaiah Daggett purchased land for a house from his father, Samuel Daggett, in 1793. According to the a Daggett family diary, Isaiah built the house at 233 Route 6 in Andover in 1805. Isaiah had been born in his father’s old saltbox house, which is now part of Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. The 1805 house was owned by Daggett family members until the 1960s and then by the Goodman family.