The Bradford-Huntington House (1705)

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A portion of what would later be known as the Bradford-Huntington House was built in Norwich on the home lot of John Bradford sometime prior to 1691 (perhaps as early as 1660, although a D.A.R. marker on the property gives the date as 1705). The house was bought by Capt. Joshua Huntington, a merchant, in 1719 (or by his father, Simon Huntington, in 1691). In later years he would enlarge and update the house in the Georgian style, adding a gambrel roof and a new chimney. The house was later owned (1745), and expanded with the addition of a rear ell, by his son, Jabez Huntington, who became Major General of the Connecticut militia in 1776, the same year George Washington spent a night in the home during the Revolutionary War. Later, Huntington experienced mental strain from his efforts and resigned in 1779. He died in 1786 and is buried near his house in the Old Norwichtown Cemetery.

Joseph Carpenter’s Shop (1772)

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Joseph Carpenter was a silversmith in Norwich whose shop, built in 1772, still stands on East Town Street, on Norwichtown Green. The shop, where Carpenter also made clocks, may be the only frame silversmith shop surviving in New England. The building is now owned by the Society of the Founders of Norwich and is currently used as a law office.

Today I have also added five new buildings to this blog’s sister site, Historic Buildings of Massachusetts! Please check them out!!!

The Benjamin Tallmadge House (1775)

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The house originally erected by Thomas Sheldon around 1775, on North Street in Litchfield, is more commonly associated with Benjamin Tallmadge, who purchased it when he arrived in Litchfield in 1782. Tallmadge was an aide to George Washington during the Revolutionary War and served as the general’s intelligence deputy, as well as founding a notable spy ring in New York. Tallmadge married Mary Floyd, daughter of William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In Litchfield, he became a merchant (in partnership with Oliver Wolcott, Jr. and Julius Deming) and was president of Phoenix Bank (later the First National Bank of Litchfield). Tallmadge altered his Georgian house with the addition of two columned porches on the north and south ends. He later completed a memoir of his life and may also have been the model for Col. Davenport in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s autobiographical novel Poganuc People.

The Glebe House (1750)

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Built around 1750, the Glebe House in Woodbury gained its name because it became the home of an Anglican clergyman. A glebe is the farmland occupied by a rural clergyman as a benefice. In 1771, John Rutgers Marshall arrived in Woodbury as its first Episcopal priest and resided in the Glebe House. In 1783, a group of Episcopal clergy met in the house and chose Reverend Dr. Samuel Seabury as the first bishop in America. The house was later occupied by Gideon B. Botsford, a silversmith. By the 1920s, the house was in disrepair after passing through various owners. It was then saved from demolition through the efforts of the Seabury Society for the Preservation of the Glebe House. In 1923, the house was restored by William Henry Kent and opened to the public as a house museum in 1925. The next year, the eminent English gardener Gertrude Jekyll was commissioned to design a garden for the museum. It was never fully installed, but has since been restored according to the original plans. Visitors can now enjoy the Glebe House Museum and The Gertrude Jekyll Garden.

Connecticut Hall (1750)

 

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Connecticut Hall, built in part by at least five enslaved laborers, was erected between 1750 and 1752 and is Yale‘s oldest surviving building. Located in the University’s Old Campus, its design was based on Harvard’s Georgian-style Massachusetts Hall. Money to fund its construction was obtained through the sale of a French ship, captured during King George’s War. Yale’s president, Thomas Clap, hired Francis Letort from Philadelphia and Thomas Bills from New York to build the dormitory, which would house a number of notable residents, including Noah Webster, James Hillhouse, John Trumbull, Eli Whitney and, most famously, Nathan Hale (A statue of Hale now stands outside the building). Later, when more buildings were being constructed for Yale’s “Brick Row” in the Federal style, the gambrel-roofed Connecticut Hall was no longer in fashion. In 1797, John Trumbull removed the old roof and enlarged the building. The building, renamed to South Middle College was again remodeled in 1882 and used for various purposes in the following years.

In 1900, with the buildings of the Brick Row being demolished, Connecticut Hall was saved from destruction by a group of alumni, led by Professor Henry W. Farnam. In 1905, with the Colonial Revival under way, alumni funds supported yet another remodeling, by architect Grosvenor Atterbury, which restored a gambrel roof to the building. Again standing out with the construction of new Gothic buildings around Yale’s Old Campus, a sense of balance was restored with the construction of McClellan Hall, a reproduction and partner to Connecticut Hall, in 1925. Today, Connecticut Hall is home to Yale’s College Faculty meeting room, the Comparative Literature and Philosophy departments, and a computer lab. Please take a look at today’s companion post about Massachusetts Hall at Historic Buildings of Massachusetts.

Poisson-Belden Cottage (1741)

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On the grounds of the Simsbury Historical Society (near the Phelps Tavern) is a eighteenth century cottage, which was moved there in the 1970s. It was originally built by John Poisson, a weaver, and was later owned by Horace Belden (there is a pdf file with information on Belden, who did a great deal for the town during his long life). The front of the house is left unpainted to display the original clapboards.