Over the last few years I have become enamored of the old industrial mill towns sprinkled throughout Connecticut and beyond, with names like Rockville, Unionville, and Tariffville. While most of these towns have fallen into decline with the shrinking manufacturing economy, some are thriving by attracting small businesses, preserving historic architecture, and creating a gathering…
Many towns across the country have designated local historic districts within their town. But what does that mean, exactly? Most of us realize it’s a collection of old homes grouped on a single street or within a couple of blocks in a neighborhood. We assume the homeowners have to get permission to paint their house…
A fixture on Woodland Street in Hartford, the Town & County Club has been welcoming its women members and their guests for decades, celebrating 90 years in 2015. With a striking exterior of buff color brick and limestone, the huge Colonial Revival house that the Club calls home was once the residence of Theodore and…
As a West Hartford resident of over twenty years, I have another opportunity to expose my lack of knowledge about this town I call home. If you are equally unfamiliar, allow me to introduce the Sarah Whitman Hooker House, one of only a few examples of 18th century architecture in West Hartford. West Hartford is…
A man builds a house in England with the expectation of living in it and leaving it to his children; we shed our houses in America as easily as a snail does his shell – Harriet Beecher Stowe This is the Charles Boardman Smith house, c. 1875, which stands proudly in spite of its downtrodden…
I am doing some volunteer freelance photography over the next few months for a local not-for-profit that is publishing a book of architectural styles in Connecticut from various time periods. I’m excited about it for a couple of reasons: first and foremost, my photographs will be in an actual hard cover book, with my byline (pretty cool!) Second,…
