Millstreams (1917)

Millstreams is a mansion in Farmington, built in 1917 for the playwright Winchell Smith. Born in West Hartford and a graduate of Hartford Public High School, Smith was also an actor and director. He got his start in the theater company of his uncle, William Gillette, but became most known for his plays, many of which were written in collaboration with others, including Lightnin’ (1918), written with Frank Bacon, which ran for 1,291 performances. He also persuaded D.W. Griffith to film scenes from the film Way Down East, written and produced by Smith and starring Lilian Gish, in Farmington. Smith’s property in Farmington once included the old grist mill, which appears in the film, and the Gridley and Case Cottages, now owned by the Farmington Historical Society. Smith was fascinated by the Tunxis Indians and in his younger days had enjoyed camping near the Farmington River. His house was later built on Indian Neck, along a bend of the Farmington River, where it joins the Pequabuck River. Initial designs for the house were prepared by Edward T. Hapgood and completed by Cortland F. Luce after the architect’s death. At first, Smith called his estate “Lambs Gate,” because he had purchased and erected at his home the gates which had stood for many years at the entrance of the Lambs Club in New York City. Because another home in Farmington had recently been named “Old Gate,” Smith changed the name of his home to “Millstream Manor.” Smith, who died in 1933, is buried, near his home, in Riverside Cemetery. The house, surrounded by almost five acres of grounds and gardens, has recently been for sale.