Connecticut Real Estate History

05/18/2025

Gotta get here:

04/20/2025

Richard Gimbel House, New Haven, Connecticut:

At 801 Forest Road in New Haven's Westville neighborhood is the former home of Colonel Richard Gimbel, part owner of Gimbel Brothers department stores, aeronautics curator at Yale University and rare book collector. His Colonial Revival style house was originally built in 1918 by a key Westville developer, Rudolph L. Kautz. Within its 3,000 square feet are six bedrooms and three and a half baths.

Gimbel acquired the property around 1953, following a distinguished business and military career. Born in 1898, he was the son of Ellis Gimbel and grandson of Adam Gimbel, who founded Gimbel Brothers in 1842. Richard rose to vice president at Gimbels, overseeing their Philadelphia store, but was forced out of the company in 1935 due to a dispute with his cousin Bernard Gimbel.

A Yale graduate, class of 1920, Gimbel served in World War I with the 310th Field Artillery Regiment and in World War II as a pilot with the Eighth Air Force. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 and retired a full colonel in 1953. As an administrative officer for the Air Force, he deployed to England on July 1, 1942 to witness the devastation of The Blitz on London. He was shocked to witness the destruction of London's Paternoster Row neighborhood, the center of British book trade. An estimated 6 million volumes, ranging from new books to rare printed volumes, had gone up in flames during Germany's air raids.

Postwar, Gimbel became Yale's Professor of Air Science and Tactics and commander of Yale’s Air Force ROTC. After retiring, he served as curator of aeronautical literature at the Yale Library, amassing a collection of over 100,000 aeronautical items. He obsessed over the history of flight and rare books, accumulating valuable literature and memorabilia since he was 20 years old.

By the time he lived on Forest Road, Gimbel was America's leading rare book collector. He had first editions by Thomas Paine, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe and Jules Verne. After passing in 1970, Gimbel donated his collection to various institutions, including the Air Force Academy and Yale, which shape minds and research to this day.

📸 credit: Foxx Goode

04/14/2025

James Monroe House, Guilford, Connecticut:

This Gothic Revival style gem was built in 1865. It's one of two ornate homes designed by James Monroe on Fair Street. Likely named after the 5th U.S. President, Monroe was part of an architectural firm known as Jasper Monroe & Sons on Boston Street. William E. Weld served as his lead builder.

The 3,274 square foot abode is clad with board and batten siding and windows surrounded by hand sawn drip molds. A historic carriage house, the pre-cursor to the twentieth-century garage, is located at the rear of the half-acre parcel. The property falls within the boundaries of the Guilford Historic Town Center, a National Register District of approximately four square miles that contains over 700 structures.

03/23/2025

Yale High Street Bridge, New Haven, Connecticut:

This stunning structure over High Street stands as a testament to architectural ingenuity at Yale University. Designed by architect Egerton Swartwout in 1926, and completed in 1928, the walkway was constructed to connect the Gallery of Fine Arts (now known as the Old Yale Art Gallery) and Street Hall. High Street Bridge was envisioned as a symbolic and functional link between the artistic and academic spheres of the university.

Swartwout, a prominent architect known for his work on institutional buildings, crafted the Gothic Revival bridge with intricate stonework and pointed arches, echoing the medieval influences of Yale’s design ethos at the time. Spanning High Street, the structure not only served a practical purpose but also contributed to the campus’s distinctive aesthetic.

The bridge’s construction coincided with a period of expansion for Yale, as the university enhanced facilities in the pre-Depression era. Today, Yale High Street Bridge is celebrated not only for its architectural beauty but also as a historic emblem of the university’s commitment to art, education, and enduring design.

New Haven was one of the first planned cities in the United States, with streets laid out in a grid pattern, including High Street, which was part of the "Nine Square Plan" in the 1630s. Almost four centuries later, Yale University plans to preserve High Street in a transformative way. In a deal with the City of New Haven, Yale plans to make High Street, between Chapel Street and Elm Street, a pedestrian and cyclist-only plaza.

“The goal is to convert this section of High Street into a vibrant public walkway and a beautiful space that residents, students, and visitors alike can enjoy and that will span the test of time as a right-of-way for people, not cars,” added city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli. (Source: New Haven Independent)

02/10/2025

Bill Miller's Castle, Branford, Connecticut:

Chances are that you've been to a wedding here. Originally built as a horse barn in the 1880s, the property then served as a family restaurant called Holly's Barn. Bill Miller transformed the barn into a dance and gymnastics studio in 1965, accommodating up to 1,200 students. Miller was a performer, teacher, designer, and entrepreneur.

He went into full "castle mode" in 1990 by renovating the premises into a banquet hall. Miller's daughters, Lisa and Cheri, took over the business, and it has since become a popular event venue. The 250-guest capacity castle is used for weddings, corporate events, proms, bar mitzvahs and fashion shows.

Bill Miller's Castle exhibits a unique blend of architectural styles, primarily characterized by rustic, cottage and medieval-inspired elements. It has natural stonework, stained glass windows, cathedral ceilings, five fireplaces, a dance floor and crystal chandeliers. There's also a 19th century bell within a wood-shingled structure outside that was salvaged from an Ansonia foundry by none other than Bill Miller.

01/28/2025

America's Fallen Cities: Hartford

Going to be focusing on other topics for the next few weeks now that we have a much larger community here and there's so much to talk about. But don't worry,...