Connecticut Real Estate History

05/31/2026

David Deming House, Wethersfield, Connecticut:

This Early Colonial stands as one of the oldest surviving homes in Old Wethersfield. Built around 1740, the small cottage offers a rare glimpse into early Connecticut life in one of America’s oldest settlements.

David Deming served as a Lieutenant in the Revolutionary War with Captain Chester Welles’ Company, Colonel Belden’s Regiment, Wolcott’s Brigade. He fought at Peekskill, New York, before later relocating to Standisfield, Massachusetts. His daughters Abigail and Mehitable married into prominent local families, Captain Elizur Goodrich and Captain Nathaniel Stillman, 2nd, further connecting the home to Wethersfield’s historic fabric.

Originally located on Garden Street (sometimes referenced as Hartford Avenue), the house was moved to its current site at 10 Main Street. Perhaps because of its modest size, the home is remarkably well-preserved. lasting features include a traditional beehive oven, two functioning fireplaces, and beautiful wide-board pine floors that speak to the craftsmanship of the era.

Today, the 738-square-foot home sits on a 0.36-acre lot with one bedroom and one bathroom. Located within Old Wethersfield Historic District, David Deming House is part of Connecticut’s largest collection of pre-1850 structures, making the area a living museum of New England heritage.

04/20/2026

The Arsenal, Clinton, Connecticut:

On picturesque Waterside Lane in Clinton Village Historic District is a tiny home called The Arsenal. It's one of Connecticut's rare surviving 17th century structures. Dated to circa 1675, the mini-Colonial and vernacular style house is located betwixt the confluence of Indian River and Long Island Sound.

Originally a harbor storehouse, the old arsenal housed and ammunition during the Revolutionary War. It was relocated a few hundred feet inland in 1798.

The practical storehouse includes a side-gabled roof, a central brick chimney, and 12-over-12 windows. A Greek Revival portico with Tuscan columns was likely added in the 1840s.

During the War of 1812, British naval forces harassed Clinton harbor with raids and blockades. Local militia repelled the Redcoats using cannons positioned at the foot of Waterside Lane on the green.

In 1989, one of the cannons was placed nearby to The Arsenal as a monument. The historic armament is traditionally cited as a prize captured by Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones. It was restored by Andrew J. Doucette, an Eagle Scout who preserved a symbol of Clinton’s resilience.

Today, The Arsenal stands as a link to Connecticut’s shoreline heritage, where American history, community pride, and coastal lifestyle converge.

04/10/2026

First Baptist Church, Bridgeport, Connecticut:

At 126 Washington Avenue is a striking example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Designed by local architect Joseph W. Northrop, the red sandstone building was completed in 1894 as the third place of worship for a congregation originally founded in the 1835.

Early services were held in a building at the corner of State and Broad Streets, purchased from St. John’s Episcopal Church. A larger second structure later rose on the same site. When the congregation needed more space, that building was sold to P.T. Barnum, the famous showman and Bridgeport civic leader. The group then moved to a new site on what was then the edge of the city, at Washington and West Avenues.

The present location was dedicated on October 28, 1894. Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Smith, the Baptist minister and author of the patriotic hymn “America” (also known as “My Country, ’Tis of Thee”), took part in the ceremony. The church was formally incorporated in 1908 and later supported community missions and civic care.

In 1990, the church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance, with a period of importance from 1893 to 1930.
This landmark reflects Bridgeport’s late-19th-century growth and stands today as a distinctive piece of the city’s architectural heritage.

The original congregation held its final Service of Thanksgiving in 2025 upon the retirement of longtime pastor Rev. Hopeton A. Scott. The protected historic building remains an important landmark. First Baptist Church's Richardsonian Romanesque style was relatively uncommon in Bridgeport at the time.

Key features include red sandstone quarried in East Haven, Connecticut, giving the building its warm, textured appearance. It has an elongated octagonal plan with projecting sections and corner towers. A prominent 4 1/2-story octagonal tower rises at the main Washington Avenue entrance, above a square pavilion base. Shorter towers sit at other corners, along with a hipped roof with clerestory windows and rich, detailed stonework throughout.

03/05/2026

02/18/2026

Aerial view of Hartford, Connecticut circa 1927.

02/09/2026

Realtors who advocate for historic preservation. 🧐👏

01/08/2026

New Canaan opulence

12/16/2025

Read more about this Rubber City treasure at CTRE.co.

11/23/2025

Kellogg-Jewell Residence, Hartford, Connecticut:

From 1841 to 1911 a peculiar castle-like residence stood on Washington Street in Hartford. Henry Austin, known as the "Father of American Architects," designed the Gothic and Tudor Revival villa. Two famous brothers, Hartford-based lithographers Edmund and Elijah Kellogg, commissioned the construction.

The now-demolished castle had brick walls that were stuccoed to mimic stone. Half-timbered gables, a turreted porch, and a hammer-beam great hall carved with leaping stags rose amid a 200-tree Baldwin apple orchard — so remote the plot had no street number when first erected.

The Kellogg brothers printed in the great hall until 1859, when belt-maker Pliny Jewell Sr. (1797–1869) purchased the property for $4,200. The location became P. Jewell & Sons' business headquarters. In addition to manufacturing, Jewell, Sr. was heavily involved in the budding insurance industry as head director of Phoenix Life Insurance Company. Jewell also capitalized on his homegrown apple orchard by shipping them to Boston in barrels marked “Jewell’s Best.”

His son, Pliny Jewell, Jr., kept a pet bullfrog named Old Croaker in a copper tub. He later took over the family business and became locally loved for his care of animals. His other son, General Marshall Jewell, became Connecticut Governor and United States Postmaster General.

Photographers Mary and Ada Taylor were the last tenants to occupy the villa. In 1911, the residence and its apple trees were toppled and paved over to make way for commercial expansion — the most romantic loss on Washington Street, a thoroughfare once called “Governors’ Row.”

11/18/2025

53 of 169 CT Town Signs - Clinton, Connecticut