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

Centerbrook Congregational Church (1790)

Potapoug Quarter, originally part of Saybrook, established its own church, Saybrook’s Second Ecclesiastical Society, in 1722 in the area of Center Saybrook, now called Centerbrook. A church, built in 1724, was renovated in 1757. The current Centerbrook Congregational Church was built in 1790-1792 and the old building was sold to Capt. Benjamin Williams and moved to the Williams family’s wharf. In 1839, the current church underwent major renovations, including the construction of a new steeple and the rotation of the originally west-facing building to face south. The adjacent Essex Borough established a separate Congregational church in 1851; the following year became part of the new town of Old Saybrook; and in 1854 became a separate town of Essex. In 1859, Centerbrook, with its much earlier church, and West Centerbrook (Ivoryton) became part of the town of Essex.

Richard and Geraldine Hodgson House (1951)

Across the street from Philip Johnson‘s own residence, the famous Glass House, is the home he designed, with Landis Gores, for Richard and Geraldine Hodgson. Richard Hodgson was an engineer who was important in developing America’s high-trch sector. When the house was built, he worked at Chromatic Television Laboratories and was later president and CEO of Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation, where he established the Semiconductor Division. Since the Hodgson’s had difficulty getting a mortgage for a Modern house, it was built in two stages: the main house was built in 1950-1951 and the bedroom wing in 1956-1957.

Alice Ball House (1953)

New Canaan is famed for its mid-century modern houses, many designed by the group of architects called the Harvard Five, one whom, Philip Johnson, designed the Alice Ball House on Oenoke Road. This relatively small residence was built in 1953 as a one-story, two-bedroom home. Johnson was influenced by Mies van de Rohe‘s courtyard homes and his unbuilt Resor House. The minimalist Ball House was altered somewhat by later owners over the years. In recent years, the house that Johnson called his ‘little jewel’ was in danger of demolition, after the current owner’s plan to adapt it as a pool house for a much larger home on the property fell through. It was eventually decided to sell the house, which has remained on the market for several years.

2019 Update: Current plans are to join the house to a new home, called Wall House, designed by Postmodernist designer Reja Bakh.

Vine Cottage (1859)

The Town of New Canaan‘s Human Services Department is located in Vine Cottage, a Gothic Revival house with a Queen Anne-style tower. Although dated to around 1859, the house is possibly an earlier one that was later much altered to its present appearance. Built by Sereno Ogden, the house has had a number of owners over the years, including Albert Comstock in the 1860s and Fletcher Porter Corry, who worked in the post office and bought the house in 1925. His family owned it until 1996, after which the town successfully bid to acquire the house.

Comstock-Bensen House (1842)

The Comstock-Bensen House is a Greek Revival home at the northwest corner of Main Street and Heritage Hill Road in New Canaan. It was built around 1842 by Edson Bradley on land he had purchased from Seymour Comstock. Bradley was a partner in the shoe-making company of Bradley and Benedict. Business was disrupted by the Civil War and in 1871 Bradley retired and sold his home to Albert Comstock, the brother of Seymour Comstock, who lived next door. Albert Comstock was partner in the clothing business of Comstock and Rogers. He and his wife also helped to found the New Canaan Historical Society, whose early meetings were held in the couple’s house. The house later passed through other owners, being acquired by the Bensen family in 1926.

Penfield Reef Lighthouse (1874)

Penfield Reef Light, built in 1874, was one of the last masonry residence and tower lighthouses on a masonry foundation to be built in the United States, a design that was being replaced at the time by cast iron towers. The lighthouse is on the south side of Black Rock Harbor, at one end of a dangerous reef that extends to the southwest from Fairfield Beach into Long Island Sound. The reef, one of the most treacherous areas of the Sound, had earlier been marked by a can buoy, but increased commercial traffic in the area after the Civil War led to the construction of the lighthouse. The mansard-roofed design of Penfield Reef Light was also used fo several other lighthouses, like Sabin Point Light on the Providence River in Rhode Island. In 1969, the Coast Guard planned to replace the lighthouse with a steel tower, but a public outcry prevented this from happening. The Light was automated in 1971 and is still an active aid to navigation. In 2008, Beacon Preservation‘s bid to assume ownership of the lighthouse was approved under a program of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act.

Shailer-Banning House (1810)

Built around 1810, on Bridge Road in Haddam, the Shailer-Banning House originally had a gable roof, which was altered to the current hip roof around 1840. At that time, the house was also probably stuccoed. The house was built by David Shailer and later was home to his daughter, Ursula, and her husband, Benjamin Banning, who were married in 1835. Their daughter, Anna U. Minor, then lived in the house until 1874. Update: See comment below about the demolition of this house.