St. Panteleimon Russian Orthodox Church (1972)

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St. Panteleimon Russian Orthodox Church in Hartford was organized in 1958. It is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), founded by Russian refugees as a response to the rule of the Bolsheviks. Another Orthodox church in Hartford, All Saints Orthodox Church, is a parish of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), which traces its origins to the church established in Alaska when it was still part of the Russian Empire. St. Panteleimon Church was built in 1972 and was designed by Dimitri Alexandrow with the architectural firm of Austin & Mead. Labor for the construction was provided by members of the congregation. Fr. Dimitri, who was the congregation’s priest and also a master icon painter, taught himself architecture in order to design the church, learning the type of masonry used in constructing Orthodox churches. He was later consecrated a monk, taking the monastic name of Daniel, and in 1988 was consecrated as Bishop at the Russian Orthodox Old Rite Church of the Nativity in Erie, PA. Bishop Daniel, who speaks a dozen languages, also wrote a book called, Selected Fables From the East, Translated by a Russian Priest. (more…)

Beatrice Fox Auerbach House (1911)

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The residence of Beatrice Fox Auerbach, on Prospect Avenue in Hartford, was built in 1911 and was designed by the firm of LaFarge & Morris. Additions were made to the home in 1923. The Georgian Revival style house also features elements of the Tudor Revival, including the twin gables and a leaded casement bay window. Beatrice Fox Auerbach was the granddaughter of Gerson Fox, who in the 1840s had founded the store in Hartford that would evolve into the G. Fox & Company department store. Beatrice Fox‘s father, Moses Fox, succeeded his father as president of the company and Beatrice married George Auerbach, who eventually became the company’s secretary-treasurer. Her husband died in 1927 and after her father‘s death in 1938, she became the store’s president. Under her leadership, the company grew until it became the largest privately owned store in the country. She remained president until she sold her privately owned stock in 1965. Auerbach, who died in 1968, was also renowned civic leader and philanthropist. A biography by Virginia Hale has recently been published called A Woman in Business: The Life of Beatrice Fox Auerbach. In 1979 the house was given to the University of Hartford.

Alfred C. Fuller House (1917)

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In the 1920s, this 1917 Colonial Revival house on Prospect Avenue in Hartford, was occupied by Alfred C. Fuller, founder of the the Fuller Brush Company. Originally from Nova Scotia, Alfred Carl Fuller, the original “Fuller Brush Man,” emphasized door-to-door selling—Fuller‘s memoir was titled, A Foot in the Door. The symmetrical house, which interestingly has non-symmetrical chimneys, was designed by William T. Marchant of Hartford.

Governor’s Residence (1909)

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The house, which today serves as the Connecticut Governor’s Residence, was originally built in 1909 for Dr. George C.F. Williams, a physician and president of the Capewell Horse Nail Company. Williams hired the firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul, the architects of the Hartford Club, to design his 1908 Georgian Revival home on Prospect Avenue in Hartford. In 1916, additions, designed by the architects Smith & Bassette, were made to the north and south sides of the house. Members of the Williams family resided in the house until 1940 and in 1943 it was purchased by the state to become the Governor’s Mansion. The first governor to reside in the house was Raymond E. Baldwin. Guided public tours of the residence are available.