Church of the Epiphany, Durham (1862)

One of the few Gothic Revival style buildings in Durham is the Church of the Epiphany, an Episcopal church on Main Street, built in 1862. The earliest Episcopal church services in Durham were held in 1802, but it was not until 1861 that two men, Andrew Morse and Frank Goodwin, began raising money for the construction of a church. The cornerstone was laid in 1862 and the completed church was consecrated on January 28, 1863. The tower was constructed in 1877 and that same year, the building was raised 1.2 feet and placed on a new foundation.

Newton E. Marble House (1874)

In 1874, Trinity Church in Newtown built the house at 12 Main Street for its rector, Dr. Newton E. Marble. The Stick and Eastlake-style house, known as “Seven Gables,” was designed by the Bridgeport firm of Palliser and Palliser. The brothers featured the house in their 1878 collection of model homes, writing the following:

This house commands a particularly fine view from both sides and the front, and is situated in one of the pleasantest country towns in New England, the hotels of this town being crowded during the summer months with people from the cities. The exterior design is plain, yet picturesque, and at once gives one an idea of ease and comfort. The roofing over the Hall and Sitting-room is a particularly fine feature […] The corner fire-place between Parlor and Dining-room is a feature we indulge in to a great extent in these days of economy, sliding doors and fire-places, although we sometimes have clients who object to this, thinking it would not look as well as when placed in center of side wall; but when they are asked how this and that can be provided for with the best and most economical results, they readily give in. […] The exterior is painted as follows: Ground, light slate; trimmings, buff, and chamfers, black. Cost, $2,925. The sight of this house in the locality in which it is built is very refreshing, and is greatly in advance of the old styles of rural box architecture to be found there.

The house has recently been for sale.

The Taylor-Wheeler House (1889)

The house at 47 Holmes Avenue in Waterbury was built in 1889 by Alfred F. Taylor, who ran a painting company (see advertisement, pdf, p.11). He and his family only occupied the house for a year before he sold it to John S. Wheeler, a retired painter. Taylor then moved to a similar Queen Anne house he had built next door, at 51 Holmes Avenue. According to the History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley, Vol. III (1918), “the long established business of the A. F. Taylor Company”

was organized in 1880 and was incorporated in 1901 by A. F., Foster B. and Charles I. Taylor. The Taylors sold their interests about 1909 to George Reed, who had formerly been with the Scovill Manufacturing Company. He remained at the head of the business until 1908, when he sold out to W. D. Austin and C. W. Lyons, and in 1914 Mr. Austin purchased the interest of Mr. Lyons. The business was first located on Grand street and thence removed to No. 43 Center street, where the company occupies a building, which has a frontage of twenty-three feet and a depth of one hundred and ten feet. They handle a full line of wall paper, window shades and awnings and in addition do interior decorating in all its branches, taking large contracts for work of this character and employing fifty people in the busy season. The business has reached extensive proportions and has become one of the profitable industries of the city.

Jerome Baldwin House (1885)

Jerome B. Baldwin was a merchant in Willimantic. Born in Mansfield in 1843, he served in the Twenty-First Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. Baldwin was partner with Frank F. Webb in the Baldwin & Webb clothing and furniture store in Willimantic and served in the state legislature in 1885. His house, on Prospect Street in Willimantic, was also built in 1885 and is an example of the Stick style.

William R. Cotter Federal Building (1932)

Adjacent to the Foot Guard Armory, on High Street in Hartford, is the William R. Cotter Federal Building, built in 1931-1932. Part of the federal government’s Depression-era construction program, the Federal Building once housed the post office and federal courthouse. The courts (in 1962) and post office (in 1977) moved elsewhere and the building now houses various federal offices. In 1982, the building was renamed to honor Congressman William R. Cotter, who represented the First District of Connecticut from 1971 until his death in 1981. The Art Deco and Neoclassical building (pdf), designed by Malmfeldt, Adams & Prentice, is constructed of Indiana limestone and Wisconsin black granite and has two aluminum eagles on the roof.

First Company Governor’s Foot Guard Armory (1888)

Organized in October 1771, the First Company Governor’s Foot Guard is the oldest military organization in continuous existence in the United States. In 1780, the Foot Guard escorted Washington to his meeting with the Comte de Rochambeau in Hartford. Built in 1888, the Foot Guard Armory, on High Street in Hartford, was designed by architect John C. Mead. The building’s drill hall, advertised in the 1890s as the largest public hall between New York and Boston, was once one of Hartford’s major locations for public entertainment.

Vanderbilt Hall, Yale University (1894)

Vanderbilt Hall at Yale University is a U-shaped dormitory built in 1894. Part of Yale‘s Old Campus, it faces Chapel Street and was designed by Charles C. Haight to resemble a large Tudor gatehouse, as does the same architect’s Phelps Hall, which faces New Haven Green. Vanderbilt Hall replaced South College (Union Hall), built in 1793-1794, which was part of Yale’s famous Brick Row. The impressive building has a lavish interior, built to compete with the fancy private dormitories that lined the opposite side of Chapel Street at the time. Vanderbilt Hall was the gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt II to memorialize his son, William H. Vanderbilt II, who died of typhoid fever while in his junior year at Yale. Major renovations occurred in 1976, when the internal arrangement of the dorm rooms was reorganized. The building was again renovated in 1995-1996 and 2002.