Collins-Spencer House (1727)

The John Collins-Stephen Spencer House, at 77 Fair Street in Guilford, is a Colonial saltbox house. In 1670, John Collins built an earlier house on the site. The current house was built c. 1727 around the the surviving chimney of the 1670 structure. Stephen Spencer, a blacksmith, had acquired the property in 1726. Deacon Peter Stevens of Saybrook bought it in 1804. Ten years later he sold it to the town of Guilford, which used it as an almshouse. In 1826, when East Guilford became the town of Madison, town property was divided and the almshouse, although located within Guilford, was owned by Madison. This situation lasted until 1832, when Madison sold the house to William H. Stevens.