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THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURYCONNECTICUT HOUSE

'With Jntroductort/Text byHaroldDonaldsonEberlein

Copyright, 1919

George F. Lindsay, Chairman

White Pine Bureau

saint paul, minnesota

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WHITE PINESE'KJ'ES OV

o/ircbitectural c/HonograpI)S

VolumesY andYl

"Prepared for publication bu"RuJ^ellFWhiteheadformerlyEditor

of The^rchitectural^cordand The 'Brick-builder.i32'Madison^veJ(ewyorkMy

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Copyright, 1921

George F. Lindsay, Chairman

White Pine Bureau

saint paul, minnesota

T^eWHITL PINE SERIES^ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS

INDEX—VOLUMES V AND VIJanuary, 1919, to December, 1920

ILLUSTRATIONS

Academy, Old Fairfield, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 1

Acadian House Guilford, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Bacon House Kent, Conn. Vol. V, No. 5

Baldwin House Branford, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Bilderbeck House Salem, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

Billings, Heman, House Stotham Village Vol. VI, No. 2

Bishop, Philo, House Guilford, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Bishop Porter House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI, No. 5

Butler House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. V, No. 3

Colonel Lewis House Essex, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 6

County Court House New London, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 1

Deming House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. V, No. 3

Ewing House Moorestown, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

First Meeting House Stotham Village Vol. VI, No. 2

Frary House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI, No. 5

Goldsmith House Guilford, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Governor Wolcott House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. V, No. 3

Hale House South Coventry, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Halsey, Anna, House Watermill, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

Halsey, Thomas, House Watermill, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

Harper House Old Chatham, N. Y. Vol. V, No. 5

Hawkes House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI, No. 5

Hayden, George, House Essex, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 6

Hollister House South Glastonbury, Conn. Vol. V, No. 1

House at Bordentown Bordentown, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

House at Chatham Center Chatham Center, N. Y. Vol. V, No. 5

House at Cutchogue Cutchogue, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

House at East Marion East Marion, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

Houses on Essex Main Street .... Essex, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 6

House at Greenwich Greenwich, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

Houses at Groton Center Groton Center, Conn. Vol. VI, No. i

House at Guilford Guilford, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 1

House at Haddonfield Haddonfield, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

House at Laurel Laurel, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

House on North Street Litchfield, Conn. Vol. V, No. 3

House near Old Chatham Old Chatham, N. Y. Vol. V, No. 5

House at Old Lyme Old Lyme, Conn. Vol. VI, No. i

House at Old Mystic Old Mystic, Conn. Vol. VI, No. i

House at Orient Orient, L. I. Vol. V, No. 2

House near Patchogue Patchogue, L. 1. Vol. V, No. 2

House near Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pa. Vol. VI, No. 3

House opposite St. John's Church . . . Essex, Conn. Vol. VI, No. 6

Houses at Sandy Hook Sandy Hook, Conn. Vol. V, No. 5

House near Saybrook Saybrook, Conn. Vol. VI, No. i

Houses at Sharon Sharon, Conn. Vol. V, No. 5

House near Westbrook Westbrook, Conn. Vol. VI, No. i

House in West Street Danbury, Conn. Vol. V, No. 5

House at Woodstown Woodstown, N. J. Vol. VI, No. 3

Hubbard House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. V, No. 3

Hyland-Wildman House . . .• . . . Guilford, Conn. Vol. V, No. i

Jackson Farm ' *. Sharon, Conn. Vol. V, No. 5

Jenks-Greenleaf House Stotham Village , VoJ. VI, No. 2

Pages 6,

9

PagesPages 9, 10, II

Pages 9, 10

Pages 9, 13

Page 1

1

Pages 4, 1

1

Page 6

Pages 9, 10

Pages 11,13

Page 14

Page 15

Pages 8, 15

Page 14

PagesPages 2, 14

Pages 4, 1

1

Page 13

Pages 8, 1

1

Page 12

Page 7Page 10

Page 1

5

Page 13

Pages 6,

7

Pages 2, 4, 5,

6

Page 6

Pages 6, 10, 1

1

Page 10

Pages 2,

5

Pages 7, 10, 12

Page 2

Page 10

Page 7Page 16

Page 8

Pages II, 12

Pages 8, 13

Page 4Page 7Page 1

1

Page 13

Page 12

Page 13

Pages 7, 13

Page 10

Page 14

Page 12

Pages 8, 14

Pages 6,

7

Page 13

Page 2

560977

January, 1919] INDEX [December, 1920

ILLUSTRATION S—(Continued)

Jessup House Westport, Conn. Vol. VI

Long Yellow House Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Mackay House Southampton, L. I. Vol. VMiller House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI

Mulford House Easthampton, L. I. Vol. VNo. 27 Main Street Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

No. 17 Market Street Salem, N. J. Vol. VI

Oldest House at Dover Dover, Del. Vol. VI

Old House on Little Point Street . . . Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Old Manse Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI

Old Ship Tavern Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Old Store Building Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VOsborne House Bellport, L. I. Vol. VParker Homestead Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Parson Williams House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI

Payne, John Howard, House . . Easthampton, L. I. Vol. VPhelps House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VPodbury-Ives House Stotham Village Vol. VI

Pratt House, Back Street Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Pratt, John, House Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Price House Germantown, Pa. Vol. VI

Reeve-Wood ruff House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VRiver End House, Little Point Street . . Essex, Conn. Vol. VI

Roe House Patchogue, L. I. Vol. VRogers Mansion Stotham Village Vol. VIRoot House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VI

Sanford House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VSanford, W. H., House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VSeymour Homestead Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VSeymour House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VSheldon House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VShort, Lemuel, House Stotham Village Vol. S/\

Simpkins, Cadwallader, House .... Stotham Village Vol. VISmith House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VIStarkey Place Essex, Conn. Vol. VIStarr House . .- Guilford, Conn. Vol. VStaunton House Clinton, Conn. Vol. VIStebbins House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VITallmadge House Litchfield, Conn. Vol. VTown Hall on the Hill Essex, Conn. Vol. VIUnderwood, Uriel, House Stotham Village Vol. VIWalker House Stratford, Conn. Vol. VWebb House ........... East Marion, L. I. Vol. VWetherald House Deerfield, Mass. Vol. VIWhite House Watermill, L I. Vol. VWhite, Salmon, House Stotham Village Vol. VI"The Willows" Gloucester, N. J. Vol. VIWitherspoon, Obadiah, House .... Stotham Village Vol. VI

,No. I

.No. 6

, No. 2

,No. 5

, No. 2

,No.6.No. 3

,No.3,No.6,No. 5

,No.6,No. 3

, No. 2

,No.6, No. 5

, No. 2

,No. 3

, No. 2

,No.6, N0.6.No. 3

.No. 3

,No.6,No. 2

, No. 2

, No. 5

.No. 3

.No. 3

, No. 3

.No. 3

.No. 3

, No. 2

, No. 2

.No. 5

,No.6,No. I

,No. I

.No. 5

.No. 3

,No.6, No. 2

,No. I

,No. 2

.No. 5

,No. 2

, No. 2

.No. 3

, No. 2

Pages 4, 5

Page 4

Page 2

Page 4Page 9Pages 13, 14

Page 4Page 12

Pages 7, 8

Pages 5, 6

Page 7Page 13

Pages 7, 16

Page 4Page 9Page 10

Pages 9, 10

Page 14

Page 4Page 16

Page 6

Page 2

Page 5

Page 7Page 1

1

Page 16

Pages 12, 13

Pages 12,14

Page 6

Page 2

Page 12

Page 6

Page 1

1

Pages 8, 12

Pages 5, 12

Page 1

1

Pages 12, 13, 14

Page 5

Page 10

Page 12

Pages II, 12

Pages 2, M, 14

Page 9Page 13

Pages 7, 8

Page 4Page 13

Vol.

Vol.

Vol.

Vol.

Vol.

V, No. 1

V, No. 2

V, No. 3

V, No. 4V. No. 5

Vol. VI. No. I

Vol. VI, No. 2

Vol. VI, No. 3

Vol. VI, No. 4Vol. VI, No. 5

Vol. VI, No. 6

ARTICLESThe Seventeenth Century Connecticut House - _ . Harold Donaldson Eberlein

Settlements on the Eastern End of Long Island - - - William Edgar MoranHistoric Houses of Litchfield -C. Matlack Price

Community Centre Building Report of Jury of AwardOld Chatham and Neighboring Dwellings South of the

Berkshires---------- Alwyn T. Covell

The Boston Post Road Peter Augustus PindarA New England Village

hC" Hubert G. Ripley

The Wooden Architecture of the Lower Delaware VartM^ - Jewett A. GrosvenorRoadside Tavern -- Report of Jury of AwardOld Deerfield, Massachusetts Rawson W. HaddonEssex, a Connecticut River Town - H. VanBuren Magonigle

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AnArchitecturalMONOGRAPH on ^i5eSeventeenth Century

''jonnecticut Jf^fj^

^f.^'^ith Text by

HAROLDDONALDSONTBERLEINPrepared for publication by^//ell TWhiteheadformerlyM'fyrof TheSirchitectural ^cordand The ^ricKbuilderJ)2 -MadifonC^Ve. A/ewYorK N. Y.

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THE GOLDSMITH HOUSE, BETWEEN GUILFORD AND BRANFORD.CONNECTICUT. Entrance Detail.

Qrca 1700.

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TfeWHlTE PINL SmES9^ARCHITECTURAL MONOGRAPHS

ABI-MONTLY PUBLIG^ION 3UGGE5TING TEARCHIXCTURAL USIS (J WHITE PINE AND ITS

AMjSBLITY TODAfas A5TRUCTURAL\A«DDVol. V FEBRUARY, 1919 No. 1

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CONNECTICUT HOUSEBy HAROLD DONALDSON EBERLEIN

Mr. Eberlein needs no introduction, either as an author or as a critic. His articles in "The Architectural Forum," "The Archi-tectural Record," and other architectural magazines are well known, as are his books, "The Architecture of Colonial America"and "The Practical Book of Early American Arts and Crafts," the latter tvritten in collaboration with Abbot McClure.— Edi-tor's- Note.

WITH apologies to the author of the

famous schoolboy Hibernianism,

committed in translating into Eng-

lish the opening sentence of Caesar, De Bello

Gallico, we may say that all of early Connecti-

cut was "quartered into three halves." Of these,

the first and most anciently settled was the

region round about Hartford, including the

towns of Windsor and Wethersfield and the

tracts bordering thereon. This was in 1636. Notlong afterwards—to be historically exact,

in 1638—came the New Haven group of

settlements, while in 1646 followed the laying

out of New London, to which latter sphere of

colonizing influence belonged the town of Nor-

wich. There was, it is true, a fourth early plan-

tation (1637) at Saybrook, and on the lands

immediately adjacent thereto at the mouth of

the Connecticut River; but as this colonizing

venture never attained the political nor numeri-

cal growth of the "three halves" previously men-tioned, and was more or less identified with the

Hartford group, we may pass it without further

mention here, interesting though it be histori-

cally and architecturally, since the houses of the

Connecticut River Valley have already been dis-

cussed in a previous Monograph of this Series.

Our present concern is with seventeenth cen-

tury Connecticut houses other than those in the

valley settlements, or what is known as the Con-necticut Colony, embracing the river towns andtheir offshoots. That means to say that most of

our material is drawn from the New Haven set-

tlement, for, thanks to the gentle incendiary

attentions of Benedict Arnold, the burning of

New London left but little of the seventeenth

century work undestroyed in that city. Theother seventeenth century structures in the neigh-

boring country are virtually analogous to the

New Haven types or else obviously affected byRhode Island characteristics. Lest the readerbe led to expect too great a diversity between thedifferent local types, it is well to preface ourdetailed examination by observing that, althoughthe "joints visible in the [early] political struc-

ture of Connecticut were faithfully repeatedin the architecture of the first century of thecolony's existence," the differences are not sharpand are chiefly to be noted in matters of detail

in such particulars as resulted from "the con-structive preferences of the carpenters andmasons who literally founded and built the

commonwealth, and who, through their succes-

sive apprentices, handed down their different

craft traditions." The differences are, however,quite sufficient to make study and comparisonboth interesting and profitable.

The New Haven sphere of influence embracedthe towns to the east and west, and the smallsettlements for a short distance inland fromthem—Guilford, Branford, Milford, Stratford,

Fairfield and their immediate hinterland. Col-onists settled in all of these places within a yearor two of the colony's planting. And the men ofthe New Haven Colony were, all things consid-

ered, of more substantial estate than any otherbody of planters who sat down within theboundaries of the present State of Connecticut.They were such men as Governor TheophilusEaton, Thomas Gregson, the Reverend JohnDavenport and Isaac Allerton, all of whom hadhouses befitting their substance and civic im-portance, while other men of easy means, asaffluence was then reckoned, also erected dwell-ings by no means contemptible. There is also

a sufficient number of the houses built in the

THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES

immediately succeeding period to give us a very

accurate idea of the average seventeenth cen-

tury Connecticut dwelling. In discussing themwe may, for the sake of convenience, follow Mr.I sham's classification of two closely related

types of seventeenth century house—the one

built prior to 1670 or 1675, and the other

built between these dates and the end of the

century. One of the chief items of differentia-

tion between the two was the treatment of the

lean-to. In the former type it was generally an

break at the line of junction between the princi-

pal mass and the lean-to 2 (as frequently in the

earlier type where the lean-to was a subsequentaddition), with a slightly gentler slope thence

downward; a buxom stone or brick chimneystack rising from the centre of the roof line, the

top of the stack capped "with one or more thin

courses, which project like moulded bands," andsometimes also another projection or neckingbelow and distinct from the capping; last of all,

the overhang, one of the most interesting features

THE PHILO BISHOP HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT.Built circa 1665.

independent and somewhat later addition; in

the latter it was commonly incorporated in the

original plan and erected as an integral portionof the body of the structure.

Both types were approximately the same in

the contour of their mass—an oblong rectangu-lar main body containing two floors, with anattic in the steep pitched roof which sloped downin the rear almost to the ground, covering thelean-to, and displayed either one unbrokenpitch 1 (as usually in the later type) or else a

* Vide Acadian House, Guilford. Page 8.

from purely architectural reasons and one that

vastly contributed likewise to the strongly indi-

vidual expression of the contour. In the middleof the front was the house door with two win-dows at each side, while a row of five windowsgenerally filled the front of the second floor, or

else there was one window on each side of the

door and three on the second floor. From an in-

spection of the exterior it is possible to form a

correct idea of the interior plan. On the groundfloor were two rooms, the "hall" or living room,

' Vide Baldwin House, Branford; Walker House, Stratford;

and Bishop House, Guilford. Pages 9, 12 and 4.

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CONNECTICUT HOUSE

which in the earliest times served for kitchen

also, and the parlor. In the middle of the house,

between the rooms, was the great stone chimneystructure with a capacious fireplace in each

room. The house door opened into a shallow

entry or "porch." There, opposite the door andbacked up against the masonry of the chimney,a stair of three broken flights ascended to the

second floor, where were two chambers, with

their fireplaces, corresponding to the plan of the

ground floor. A stair back of the chimney led

amination of the remaining seventeenth century

houses shows that the foregoing simple plan wasclosely adhered to almost without exception; andwhen there were any variations, they weretrifling.

The framing was sometimes of hard pine,

sometimes of oak, and occasionally both wereused. It is worthy of note that the framing is

still in admirable condition except where it has

been subjected to the grossest neglect and ex-

posed to insidious leaks. The exterior casing of

THE STARR HOUSH, GUILFORD. CONNECTICUT.Built circa 1665.

from one chamber into the attic. Where the

lean-to was a subsequent addition, it contained a

kitchen and sometimes a small bed-chamber,A fireplace was added and a flue built up along

the back of the original chimney, whose form,

above the roof, now became T-shaped instead of

rectangular. Above the ground floor of the lean-

to there might or might not be a chamber.Where the lean-to, as in the house of the second

type, formed a part of the original scheme, its

ground plan was the same, but provision wasmade for second floor chambers, usually on a

level with the "hall" and parlor chambers. Ex-

clapboards was of white pine, not infrequently

left to the coloring agencies of the weather. Man,far more than time or weather, is to blame for

the disconcertingly altered conditions that often

confront the visitor who endeavors to visualize

the pristine appearance of these old houses. Thelocal carpenter of the nineteenth century, whowas not an archaeologist nor an antiquary and,

unlike his predecessors of the seventeenth andeighteenth centuries, apparently altogether de-

void of architectural appreciation, reverence or

imagination, was the worst offender. If clap-

boards were to be renewed, he did not scruple to


saw off brackets and moulded drops or even

wholly to conceal overhangs and chamferedgirts if it suited his whim and convenience. Nordid he hesitate otherwise to obliterate sundry

architectural refinements that constituted no

small degree of the ancient and rightful charmof the seventeenth century dwelling. That so

much of the original aspect of the houses illus-

trated still remains is a matter for real gratula-

tion. Successive occupants, through an ill-con-

sidered obsession to follow the latest fashion,

have also been much to blame for senseless and

enteenth or early eighteenth centurywhen the fash-

ion of low transoms with small rectangular lights

{vide the door of the Bishop house in Guilford

and others) was becoming popular. It is morethan likely that new doors and doorways were in-

stalled, in many cases, in the early years of the

eighteenth century at the same time that leaded

casements were abandoned and the windowapertures altered for the reception of double

hung sashes. As an instance of this may be men-tioned the door of the Bishop house in Guilford : the

method of panelling, the moulded capping and

THE HYLAND-WILDMAN IIOL'SE. GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT.

regrettable changes. At their instance the ex-

ternal features that suffered the most conspicu-

ous change were doors, doorways and windows.The original doors exhibited interesting and

distinctive panelling, and the doorways, thoughseverely simple, were well considered in compo-sition and detail. One of the earliest doors anddoorways may be seen in the Baldwin house at

Branford. The frame is simple but vigorous.

While door and frame may not be coeval withthe building of the house, they are very early,

and the square lights, cut in the heads of the

three upper panels, are obviously a later "im-provement," probably dating from the late sev-

the transom of the five rectangular lights are

all earlier in type than the date of erection.

Again, in the Walker house at Stratford, one is

tempted to believe that the door itself and the

fluted pilasters of the doorway, along with such

elements of a scrolled pediment as are still

visible beneath the very much later added porch,

were applied when the windows were changed.Time and again both doors and doorways wereruthlessly sacrificed in irresponsible fits of mod-ernism. While eighteenth century alterations,

both early and late, were often meritorious, andat least decent, the monstrous nineteenth century

(Continued on page lo)

THE HYLAND-WILDMAN HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT. Built 1668.

Showing detail of hewn overhang, chamfered girt

and brackets for post at each side of door.

THE ACADIAN HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT.Circa 1670.

THE BALDWIN HOUSE, BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT.Circa 1645.


aberrations of uninspired stock millwork are un-

pardonable and revolting examples of proprie-

tary vandalism.

All the windows, save those that have escaped

the intolerable desecration of recent sashes with

large panes, exhibit the double hung sashes with

small panes and wide muntins that supplanted

the earlier diamond-paned leaded casements in

the fore part of the eighteenth century.

Anothersignificant

change that seems

to have taken place

concurrently with the

alteration of the

windows was the in-

troduction of a cor-

nice and oftentimes

also of mouldedbarge boards. Atfirst there was no

cornice and the only

attempt at architec-

tural amenity at the

eaves seems to have

consisted occasion-

ally of cutting awaythe under side of the

projecting rafter ends

so that they were

perceptibly larger at

the outer extremity

than where they left

the plate. Some-times the rafter ends

were merely boxed in

—if such construc-

tion was not original,

and it does not ap-

pear to have been

—

as in the Bishop

house in Guilford;

at other times the

rafter ends weresawed off and re-

placed by a thin moulded board cornice and the

moulding was now and again extended to the

embellishment of the barge boards. Thesemouldings showed great restraint and refinement

of profile and are unmistakably of the type be-

longing to the early eighteenth century. Exam-ples of these refined cornice additions maybe seen in the Baldwin house at Branford, the

Walker house at Stratford, where the mouldingis also run around beneath the overhangs andbreaks out to form cappings for the windowframes, and in the Hyland-Wildman house at

Guilford, where, in addition to the several other

features, the moulded embellishment occurs on the

Detail of Doorway.

THE BALDWIN HOUSE, BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT.

barge boards as well, by way of a special amenity.

Through the towns of the New Haven region

considerable variations are to be seen in the use

of the overhang. Sometimes it occurs only onthe front of the house. Again, it extends aroundthe sides, as in the Hyland-Wildman house. Still

again, there is a gable overhang as well as the

overhang between the first and second floors, as

in the Walker, Tuttle and Goldsmith houses. Attimes there is only

the gable overhang,

as in the Bishop

house and the Starr

houses in Guilford,

while some of the

houses, like the Bald-

win house and the

Acadian house, haveno overhang at all.

We also find oneclearly defined formthat is distinctively

characteristic of the

New Haven locality

—the hewn as dis-

tinguished from the

framed ovtrhzng, the

latter belonging moreparticularly to the

Hartford region, the

"Connecticut Col-

ony," and to Massa-chusetts. An admir-

able example of the

hewn overhang ap-

pears in the Hyland-Wildman house in

Guilford. In the

framing for these

hewn overhangs the

posts for their whole

height are of onestick of timber. Thefull size—sometimes

as much as i 5 inches square—occurs in the sec-

ond floor and from this excess of bulk is hewnout the bracket that seemingly supports the over-

hang. Below the bracket, the post is dressed

down to far slimmer dimensions. With this formof overhang the projection is much less than

where there is a framed overhang and there are

no turned or moulded drops. The girts were

often elaborately chamfered on their lower outer

edge and stopped with moulded stops, as may be

seen by the illustrations of the Hyland-Wildmanhouse.

From considerations of solicitude for the

picturesque in architecture, it is to be regretted

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CONNECTICUT HOUSE II

Detail of Doorway.

THE PHILO BISHOP HOUSE, GUILFORD.CONNECTICUT.

that in many later instances the hewn overhangdegenerated into mere lines of slight projection

across the faces or ends of houses (vide Gold-smith house) and that the hewn brackets andchamfered girts wholly disappeared—a change,

however, not at all unnatural in view of the

very slight projection originally exhibited by the

hewn overhang. Even in its sadly emasculatedestate, the overhang has a distinct architectural

value. It breaks the depressing monotony of a

clapboarded wall, gives an agreeable relief of

shadow and imparts a degree of charm that

should appeal to the severely practical-minded

person in the light of an observation made bya highly successful manufacturer and "captainof industry," to wit, that "beauty is the mostutilitarian asset we possess." On the same score

we may also address a plea to the hard-headedpracticality of the case-hardened utilitarian anentthe chimneys, which, with their capping and the

resultant relief of contour, line and shadow, are

well worth perpetuating to-day.

We frequently hear allusions to the feasibility

of developing an American type of domestic ar-

chitecture. It is too much and unreasonable to

expect that any one uniform type of American

domestic architecture should ever be arrived at,

for we are a mixed people in our varied racial

derivations; but it is not too much to expect

—

rather, it is altogether feasible and logical—that

we should hold to and emphasize our historical

background by cultivating the types that havegrown with the centuries and proved their fit-

ness by long use. The seventeenth century Con-necticut type represents a straight, vital andlogical process of evolution from English prece-

dent; it expresses locality and racial derivation,

and its perpetuation is eminently reasonable and,

as proved by centuries of experience, suited to

the climate and manner of life of the people.

Another point that commends the early Amer-ican types to our close attention at this particu-

lar time is their simplicity, combined with dig-

nity and adaptability to domestic requirements

reduced to the lowest terms. Post-bellum condi-

tions in many places have dictated a far-reaching

simplification of domestic menage, and the so-

lution of the problem thus perforce imposedupon us cannot be found in a more appropriate

quarter than in the early types that so faithfully

reflect the simple but dignified conditions underwhich our forebears lived.

Detail of Doorway.

THE WALKER HOUSE, STRATFORD. CONNECTICUT.

12 THE WHITE PINE MONOGRAPH SERIES

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n1THE STARR HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT.

Built circa 1665.

THE WALKER HOUSE, STRATFORD. CONNECTICUT.Built circa 1670.

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CONNECTICUT HOUSE «3

THE HALE HOUSE, SOUTH COVENTRY. CONNECTICUT.

THE HOLLISTER HOUSE, SOUTH GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT.Built circa 1675.

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560977

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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the seventeeth century connecticut house

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