The north section of the Wyllys-Orton House, which was most likely separated from the rest of the 1659 home in the 1790s, is adjacent to the south section, on Main Street in Farmington. It was later enlarged. Another Connecticut house that was divided into two (south and north sections) is the John Chester Tavern in Wethersfield.
The Wyllys-Orton House, on Main Street in Farmington, was divided in half, probably in the 1790s. It was originally built around 1659 by Thomas Orton, on land that had once been owned by Samuel Wyllys, son of the early Connecticut Governor George Wyllys. The house had various later owners who made numerous changes, the most significant being the removal of the original house’s north section to an adjacent lot on Main Street. This northern section was later enlarged. There are a number of stories as to why the house was divided. According to one, a mother and her daughter-in-law both lived in the home but each wanted to rule in her own kitchen, so the house was split in two.
The Thomas Hart Hooker House, on Main Street in Farmington, was built in 1770 by Judah Woodruff for Hooker, a descendant of Thomas Hooker and of Stephen Hart, one of the founders of Farmington. Hooker had married Sarah Whitman Hooker in 1769 and in 1773 they moved to what is now West Hartford. The house was later owned by Samuel Deming, an abolitionist who used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Deming also joined with Austin Williams and John Treadwell Norton in bringing the Africans from the Amistad to Farmington in 1841. The house, now owned by Miss Porter’s School, is on the Connecticut Freedom Trail.
The oldest house in Farmington was built by Samuel Steele, a farmer who served as Deputy in the General Court and lieutenant in the militia. Steele‘s wife, Mary Boosey, had inherited property in Wethersfield and the family moved there in 1678. After Samuel’s death in 1685, Mary returned to live in the house in Farmington. The house was owned by the Steele family until 1773, when it was sold to Isaac Gleason (the current sign on the house identifies it as the Gleason House). In 1843, Dr. Chauncey Brown moved the house back from Main Street and turned it to face south with its gable end towards the street. It was then used as a barn, but now has apartments. The building has been owned by the same family since 1920.
The Elijah Lewis House was built around 1780 or 1790 by Farmington‘s master builder, Judah Woodruff. Lewis was a farmer and served as a quartermaster in the Revolutionary War. Both he and his son, Elijah Lewis, Jr., were abolitionists and the house was a station on the Underground Railroad (it is on the Connecticut Freedom Trail). In 1977, to improve the flow of traffic on Farmington Avenue, the house was moved back from the road and rotated 90 degrees, with a new address on Mountain Spring Road. The house, which is currently for sale, was also occupied by the artist, Robert B. Brandegee, who left paintings on some of the interior door panels.
For Halloween, we present a classic Victorian Stick Style house, the 1884 Frank Sanford House, on Lovely Street in Unionville. The Stick Style is viewed as a transitional style between the earlier Gothic and Italianate and the later Queen Anne styles. Some see the Stick style as an independent style, others as a part of the broader category of Queen Anne. Sanford, who owned a lumber and hardware business, married Marion Hawley and soon joined his brother-in-law, C. R. Hawley in founding the Sanford and Hawley lumber and building materials company, which is still in operation today.
The George and Edward Thompson House is an Italianate house, built on Farmington Ave in Unionville in 1884. It features a veranda with Eastlake-influenced columns and balustrades. The property also has an original barn.