The Glastonbury Villa (1920)

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The Glastonbury Villa, on Main Street in Glastonbury, is an American foursquare house built in 1920 by John Jacoon. The exterior of the house displays rubble masonry on the first floor and stuccoed walls on the second floor. There is also a stone fountain in front of the house. The use of stone masonry is commonly found in Italian vernacular architecture and reveal the influence of Italian immigrants in Glastonbury. The name, “Glastonbury Villa,” can be seen between the two windows and the porch on the second floor, on the side of the house facing Main Street. The home is now leased as a town-owned residential property.

Joshua Adams House (1891)

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The Queen Anne-style house of Joshus Adams, on Church Street in Wethersfield, features wood shingles and a sunburst pattern in the front gable. Generations of the Adams family of Wethersfield were involved in various forms of woodworking: Josha Adams was the great-great grandson of Amasa Adams, who owned a half-interest in the Chester Mill, afterward known as Adams Mill, at Mill Woods (PDF).

Dr. Lord’s Hall (1765)

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The front section of the building known as Dr. Lord’s Hall was possibly built as early as 1765 by Thomas Griffing, on Main Street in Stonington Borough. In 1811, the lot is described as having a shop and a house. In 1814, Dr. William Lord became the building’s owner through a defaulted mortgage. He enlarged it and gutted the second floor, installing a sprung floor so that dance classes could be held, even though, at the time, a revival movement was underway and the Baptist church nearby disapproved of dancing. Later, the first Stonington Band practiced in the house and the band’s practice room was used for Episcopal services from 1844 to 1849, while a church was being built. In later years, the house was a tenement and a grocery store, but is now a private home. Dr. Lord’s own residence, no longer standing, was nearby on Main Street.

The Joseph Teel House (1789)

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The Joseph Teel House, on the Chelsea Parade Green in Norwich, is a three-story brick Federal-style mansion, with a hip roof, built in 1789-90. It was originally built to be a tavern and inn: At the Sign of General Washington. The house was later occupied by a boarding school, run by William Woodbridge, and was for many years the home of General William Williams. He donated 7 1/2 acres to the Norwich Free Academy and his wife, Harriet Peck Williams, founded the Peck Library (1859) at the Academy (in honor of her father, Capt. Bela Peck of the Continental Army) and the Williams School in New London. The house next served as the parsonage of the Park Congregational Church and then the Norwich Free Academy headmaster’s house. The house is now for sale.

The Oliver Mather House (1777)

Colonel Oliver Mather was born in 1749 and married Jemima Elsworth, the sister of Oliver Ellsworth, in 1778. Their eldest son, also named Oliver, graduated from Yale in 1799. The Mather House, on Broad Street in Windsor, was built the year before the colonel’s marriage. Mather died in 1829 and around 1840 the house was remodeled, adding a heavy balustrade along the roof and above a square hip-roofed entry porch. In 1901, the building became the home of the Windsor Public Library (founded in 1895). Early on, the librarian lived in the house and the library was in a one-story addition to the house. Further additions have since been made and the front facade has been restored to a colonial appearance.