Plymouth Building, Milford (1952)

During the Great Awakening in 1741, the membership of the First Congregational Church in Milford was split, with the more conservative members forming Second Church, under the leadership of Job Prudden, the great grandson of Peter Prudden, the first pastor of First Church. A new Greek Revival structure, called Plymouth Church, was constructed for the second congregation. The two Congregational churches then continued separately, but physically close to each other, for 185 years, until 1926, when they were reunited. The old Plymouth Church was then used as a playhouse until it was razed in 1951 and replaced the following year by the Plymouth Building, which houses a chapel and parish hall.

Ezra Bassett House (1800)

In 1799, Ezra Bassett, son of Capt. Hezekiah Bassett, purchased land in Hamden and within a few years had built a house along what is now Whitney Avenue. Probably a merchant, Ezra Bassett’s business suffered during the War of 1812, leading to the loss of the house in 1815. It was next owned by Jared Atwater and remained in his family for the rest of the nineteenth century. Although later significantly altered for commercial purposes with original decoration removed and display windows added, the house was more recently restored to its original appearance, with a Federal-style entry and tripartite window. The house now serves as a lawyer’s office.

Capt. David Judson House (1723)

Capt. David Judson built a Georgian-style house in Stratford around 1750 (or as early as 1723), on the foundation of his great-grandfather William‘s stone house of 1639. Nine generations of the family lived in the house until 1888, when the house was sold to John Wheeler. In 1891, it was sold to Celia and Cornelia Curtis, who willed it to the Stratford Historical Society in 1925. The Judson House, which is now a museum, is known for its particularly fine broken scroll pediment door surround.

Hermon Chapin House (1834)

On Main Street in New Hartford, across from Pine Meadow Green, is a Greek Revival home that once served as a parish house for St. John’s Episcopal Church. The earliest part of the house, in the rear, dates to 1784, but the front section was added in 1834, when Hermon Chapin, who established himself in Pine Meadow as a prominent tool manufacturer, moved in with his wife, Catharine Merrill. She later left the house to the Episcopal Church.

Theophilus Hyde House (1893)

The Theophilus Hyde House, built on Pine Street in Waterbury in 1893, is good example of a Queen Anne house with Stick style details. According to The Town and City of Waterbury, Connecticut, Vol. 2 (1896), edited by Joseph Anderson:

Theophilus Rogers Hyde, son of Theophilus Rogers and Fanny (Hazard) Hyde, was born in Stonington, December 18, 1855. He was educated at the high school in Westerly, R. I., and graduated from there in June, 1874. In September following he came to Waterbury to accept a position in the office of the Scovill Manufacturing company, and has continued there until the present time. On March 11, 1880, he married Jennie Pelton, daughter of William Burdon of Brooklyn, N. Y. They have five children, three sons and two daughters

105 Asylum Street, Hartford (1855)

The commercial building at 105-115 Asylum Street, on the corner of Trumbull Street, was built around 1855 by Timothy Allyn, who owned the Allyn House hotel and served as mayor of Hartford. The building has been owned by his descendants ever since. In 1896, the building housed Willis & Wilson, a clothing store, whose owners commissioned the architect Isaac Allen, Jr. to design a new two story cast-iron front for the building. Manufactured by the George S. Lincoln Company, the intricately designed front, with broad display windows, has been a Hartford landmark ever since. From 1909 to 1989, the building was home to Willis and Wilson’s successors, Stackpole, Moore & Tryon, a clothing store which later moved down the street. The old building was recently renovated and now houses a bank.

Frederick Whittlesey House (1881)

Frederick Whittlesey, a dry goods merchant, built a house in 1881 at the corner of West Main Street and Grove Hill in New Britain. Whittlesey married Maria Carter Gilbert in 1861 and in 1881, the year the house was built, he married his second wife, Mary Wadsworth. The house was later home to his two unmarried daughters, Mary Swift Whittlesey (1865-1956) and Frances Whittlesey (1872-1970). Mary Swift Whittlesey was very active in historical and genealogical groups, like the D.A.R. In 1932, the sisters changed the entrance to the house from West Main Street to Grove Hill. After Frances Whittlesey’s death, the house was converted for use as offices.