Benjamin Bissell House (1849)

The stone house at 637 Bantam Road in Litchfield, which is now a restaurant, was built in circa 1849 by Benjamin Bissell, who had acquired the land in 1840. He sold the house in 1850 to Abel H. Clemons. Stone houses are uncommon in the area, but around the same time Benjamin was constructing this house, Henry B. Bissell used granite from the same quarry to build the stone at 202 Maple Street. The house has limited stylistic elaboration, except for a prominent Italianate-style hip roof with a monitor/cupola. After 1875 the house was owned by the Brundage family.

St. Paul’s Church, Bantam (1843)

In 1797, Episcopalians in the Bantam section of Litchfield organized a new parish, originally called the Second Episcopal Society, which separated from the town’s First Episcopal Society (now St. Michael’s Church). The new parish‘s original building, known as the West Church, was located on a rise near the intersection of Bantam Road and Maple Street known as Church Hill, across from the Bantam cemetery. The parish’s current church, dedicated to Saint Paul, was built in 1843 and was consecrated by Bishop Thomas C. Brownell on November 1, 1844. The Greek Revival-style building, located at 802 Bantam Road, was extended to the rear with an addition constructed in two stages: an undercroft built in 1951-2 and a second story completed in 1962-3. The church has six Gothic-style stained glass windows that were installed in 1885-6. A more detailed history of the church can be found in this PDF document.

Former Bantam Methodist Church Parsonage (1915)

A good example of the American Foursquare style is the house just east of the Market on Bantam Road in the Bantam section of Litchfield (its official address is 15 Tulip Drive). It was built in 1915 to serve as the parsonage of the Bantam Methodist Church. The church sold the property to the Bantam Lumber Company in 1973. The house was likely a mail order precut kit house produced by The Aladdin Company.

Henry B. Bissell House (1850)

The Henry B. Bissell House, built in 1850, is located at 202 Maple Street in the Bantam section of Litchfield. In an area with numerous eighteenth and nineteenth-century wood frame farmhouses, it is a rare example of a stone house, being constructed of ashlar granite. The Bissell family, descended from one of Litchfield’s earliest settlers, were major landowners in Bantam. Henry B. Bissell (1814-1897), who built the house, was a deacon of the Congregational Church. He was described in 1896 in a Biographical Review volume entitled The Leading Citizens of Litchfield County, as “one of the most respected and prosperous agriculturists of this section of the county.” The book goes on to explain:

Deacon Henry B. Bissell had better educational advantages than were generally given a farmer’s son in his time. After finishing with the district schools he was sent to the seminary, where he was under the instruction of John P. Brace. He subsequently engaged in teaching, which he continued for six winters. His chief occupation, however, was assisting on the home farm, where he remained until twenty-eight years of age. Having by that time much experience in general farming he then bought the property on which he now resides. Since that time he has placed the two hundred and thirty acres of fertile land in a yielding condition and made many other valuable improvements, sparing neither time nor expense for that purpose. In 1850 Deacon Bissell erected his present residence, which stands on rising ground overlooking the village three miles distant, the granite used in its construction having been quarried on his own farm. He pays a good deal of attention to dairying, keeping some twenty head of fine cows, and finds this branch of his business quite profitable.

The house remained in the Bissell family until 1985, a period of 135 years.

John Collins House (1770)

The front section of the house at 7 East Street, facing the Green in Litchfield, was added in 1770 (or 1782) to an older section that possibly dates to the mid-eighteenth century. The land was once part of a homelot that was set aside for Rev. Timothy Collins, minister of the First Congregational Church. The older section of the house is thought to have been Rev. Collins’s house, while the front section was added by his son John to serve as a tavern (although it may not have been used as one). In 1913, with the building’s owners were threatening to demolish the house, local residents formed the Phelps House Corporation to purchase the building in order to protect the historical character of the north side of the Green. Today the house is privately owned.