Around 1739, John Fletcher (d. 1788) and his wife, Rachel Wing Fletcher (1697-1778) (they married in 1720 in Harwich, Massachusetts), settled in the village of Wormwood Hill in Mandfield. By the mid-1750s they had built the central-chimney house at 611 Wormwood Hill Road. According to Wormwood Hill: Its Settlement and Growth (2009) by Rudy J. Favretti and Isabelle K. Atwood, John Fletcher became wealthy purchasing and selling various pieces of land. His son John possibly lived in the house, which then passed to his younger brother, Capt. Richard Fletcher (1736-1812), who sold it in 1806. It then had other owners. In 1843 it was acquired by Amos G. Fenner (1807-1882), a farmer originally from Warwick, Rhode Island. His son William (1837-1918) and daughter-in-law Damorous Anstice Holley Fenner (1835-1907) later lived in the house and turned the south lawn into a croquet court. In 1913, their son Frank E. Fenner (1865-1933), who lived in Waterbury, sold the house to his cousin, George Silas Clark (1869-1938). In 1954, it was purchased by H. John Thorkelson (d. 2003), an economics professor at UCONN, and his wife Virginia, is now the home of their son, Peter Tork, formerly of the band The Monkees.
Fletcher-Fenner Homestead (1755)
Peter Tork also had an infamous home in California in the 1960s: http://www.psycho-jello.com/monkees/peterhouse.htm
From the looks of Peter’s new house in Mansfield, he’s little more laid-back now. What a fabulous house to inherit from one’s parents! He was my favorite Monkee.
The house address is 614 Wormwood Hill Rd and NOT 611. It appears he also inherited a lot on Mt Hope Road not far away.
Take a left off Evergreen Terrace and you’ll find the lot. Next to a Music Store and Moe’s.