Historic Buildings of Connecticut

Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Hartford

The Eugene Kenyon Farmhouse (1870)

The first house to be built north of Farmington Avenue, in Hartford’s West End, was an 1870 farmhouse on Kenyon Street. The house was built by the developer Eugene Kenyon, who was laying out streets and planning to construct homes in what was then an area of farmland. Kenyon’s own home was on nearby Farmington Avenue and the farmhouse was soon purchased by its first owner, Maria K. Stanley. An economic downturn in the later 1870s stalled the development of the neighborhood and Kenyon lost his money, but by the 1880s, the pace of house construction in the West End accelerated. Many classic Victorian homes were constructed on Kenyon Street around 1900 and the older farmhouse was embellished over time, combining elements of the Gothic Revival and Italianate styles.

34 Evergreen Avenue, Hartford (1900)

The house at 34 Evergreen Avenue in Hartford was built around 1900 and is attributed to the architect William H. Scoville, who designed many homes in Hartford’s West End. The house has a Queen-Anne form, with siding in the Shingle Style and Colonial Revival porches. This post is Historic Buildings of Connecticut‘s 100th entry for Hartford!

Sylvester C. Dunham House (1904)

Check out my YouTube short about this house!

Displaying features of a Craftsman style bungalow on a Colonial Revival structure, the 1904 Sylvester C. Dunham House, on Prospect Avenue in Hartford, was designed by Edward T. Hapgood, who was the architect of the Shepard House, also located on Prospect. Sylvester Clark Dunham became president of the Travelers Insurance Company in 1901. His son, Donald A. Dunham, a Yale graduate, also resided in the house.

George W. Ellis House (1902)

A house in the Tudor Revival style was built on Prospect Street in Hartford in 1902 for George W. Ellis, who worked at Travelers Insurance Company. It has the diamond paned leaded windows and decorative half-timbering typical of the style, with a more unusual double front gable.

Henry R. Hovey House (1901)

The 1901 Henry R. Hovey House, on Prospect Avenue in Hartford, is a Colonial Revival structure, featuring Georgian and Federal elements. Hovey was an employee of the Aetna Life Insurance Company.

Henry Dwight Bradburn House (1900)

A Queen Anne style home, which also features elements of the Gothic Revival, Shingle and Colonial Revival styles, the Henry Dwight Bradburn House, on Prospect Avenue in Hartford, is an eclectic mix. The house dates to 1900, the year Bradburn retired as manager of the Nonotuck Paper Company of Holyoke, Mass. The house bears a strong resemblance to the W. F. Clark House in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Samuel N. Kellogg House (1877)

Built around 1877, the Samuel N. Kellogg House, on Washington Street in Hartford, is the only survivor from the time when the area was a leafy and elegant neighborhood called “Governor’s Row.” This fairly restrained Second Empire-style house was built for Samuel N. Kellogg, who was a brother-in-law of the retired dry goods merchant and Hartford financier Francis Cooley.