Historic Buildings of Connecticut - Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

Norman S. Boardman House (1860)

One of the prominent Victorian-era residences in East Haddam is the Boardman House at 8 Norwich Road. Luther Boardman and his son Norman S. Boardman owned factories which produced Britannia spoons and nickel, silver, and silver plated ware. The Boardmans built two notable mansions in East Haddam, one of which is the house at 8 Norwich Road, an Italianate villa built around 1860. The National Register of Historic Places nomination for the East Haddam Historic District lists the house as the Luther Boardman House, while an 1880 bird’s-eye-view of East Haddam lists it as the residence of N.S. Boardman. In more recent years, the residence housed an antiques shop and is today a luxury inn called The Boardman House. (more…)

Bethesda Mission (1866)

Several religious congregations have used the building at 540 East Washington Street in Bridgeport over the years. It was built in 1866-1867 as the Bethesda Mission Chapel and Sunday School. It was later home to the East Washington Avenue Baptist Church (formed in 1874) and then to Congregation Adath Israel, the first Orthodox synagogue in Bridgeport. The edifice’s current cornice dates to 1902. Today the building is owned by the Apostolic Worship Center. The AWC purchased it in 1997 and completed renovating the sanctuary in 2002.

Alfred G. Hull House (1849)

The Alfred G. Hull House, at 58-60 Boston Street in Guilford, was built in 1849 with an Italianate flat roof. A French Second Empire mansard roof was added to the house around 1860. According to an obituary in The American Stationer, Vol. XXXV, No. 6, February 8, 1894:

Alfred G. Hull, secretary and treasurer of the American Copying Paper Company, Windsor Locks, Conn., died at the residence of Henry E. Pratt, his son-in-law, at Springfield, Mass., January 31, and was buried at Guilford, Conn., on Saturday last. Mr. Hull had passed through a siege of grip, when he was attacked by pneumonia, which ended his life. Alfred G. Hull was born in Clinton Conn., and was seventy-one years of age, and had spent his life in the lumber business, retiring from active business about ten years ago. Later he became secretary and treasurer of the company of which his son-in-law is president. He was treasurer of the town of Guilford for a number of years, was also justice of the peace for a long term, and for the last twenty-eight years had been a member of the Third Congregational Church of Guilford. He was widely known, and was as widely esteemed and respected.

A lumber dealer and contractor, who built a number of buildings in Guilford, Alfred G. Hull was also vice-president of the Guilford Savings Bank.

David Hull House (1766)

The saltbox house at 76 Fair Street in Guilford was built in 1766 by David Hull on land he bought that year from Nathaniel Johnson. In 1791, Hull sold the house to Seth Bishop, who owned it until he built his own house next door in 1796. The Hull House has passed through many owners over the years and at one time had a nineteenth-century porch, since removed.

Russell Crampton House (1844)

The Greek Revival house at 44 Boston Street in Guilford was built in 1844 and has been much altered over the years. It was the home of Russell Crampton, a dealer in coal.

Guilford Trust Company (1912)

The Guilford Trust Company building, at 1 Boston Street across from Guilford Green, was built in 1912. The Guilford Trust Company and the Guilford Savings Bank shared the building until 1951, when the bank moved out. The trust company was acquired by a New Haven bank in 1957 and the building underwent alterations, including the removal of the front door. The structure is now a commercial building.

Langrock Building (1927)

Built in 1927, the Langrock Building, at 268 York Street in New Haven was designed to fit in with the architecture of neighboring Yale University. The building, designed by Jacob Weinstein, was built by David T. Langrock to house his men’s clothing store. At the time, New Haven had become a center of custom tailoring shops. Langrock also had other clothing shops near Ivy League schools, in Princeton and Harvard Square. Although bankrupt at the time of his death, Langrock owned real estate in Providence, Rhode Island, which was sold. Part of the funds were used to establish the David T. Langrock Foundation. In 1982, the Foundation established The David T. Langrock Old Masters Art Fund, which promotes classical art and the study of classical art in the Greater New Haven area. The Langrock Building has housed many businesses over the years.