Afternoon Date in Hartford’s West End

This past Sunday was an incredible breather in the long, harsh New England winter we have had.  It felt almost balmy at a high of about 38 degrees – isn’t it funny how that can seem warm when you compare it to -4 degrees? I have to draw the line at walking in temperatures that are sub-zero or in the teens – I’m not that crazy!

While cozy by the fire I spent some time reading up on the various neighborhoods in Hartford, from Asylum Hill to Parkville to the West End. Someone asked me recently if I had been to the West End yet, and technically I have – but I found on Sunday that I had missed out on the best part of it.

For anyone local, the West End is loosely comprised of the area bordered by Prospect Avenue (the town line between Hartford and West Hartford), Albany Avenue, West Boulevard and Woodland Street. Landmarks you might know include the Connecticut Historical Society, UConn School of Law and the Hartford Seminary. But the real beauty of the area is in the residential neighborhoods.

The West End contains five separate historic districts, making up about seventy percent of the neighborhood. The West End South Historic District piqued my interest as it is primarily residential and is composed of homes built as early as 1855 through 1925.

I love walking through residential neighborhoods, and this one promised to contain a wide variety of architectural styles which keeps it interesting. West Hartford has such varied architecture which is one of its best features (in my humble opinion!) but was largely developed in the early to mid-1900’s so Victorian architecture is under-represented. Not so in the West End.

I asked my husband if he wanted to join me for a walk, thinking there was about a ten percent chance he would take me up on it. Well, he was either very bored or wanted to spend some time with me, but either way he agreed to come! He does come periodically and I enjoy his company because he let’s me chatter to my heart’s content about architecture and history and photography.

We strapped on our boots and headed out. It was about a ten or fifteen minute drive to North Beacon Street where we parked and as soon as we pulled up I knew I was in the right place.

Home after home with distinctive features. Turrets, gingerbread and porches, oh my! So many different colors and textures combined on lovely tree-lined sidewalk streets. The only drawback was the snow. We joked as we walked that we were on an arctic adventure and our biggest challenge was climbing the snow bank at the end of the block to cross the street, hoping we didn’t get hit by a car.

We had to walk single file down the sidewalk, being careful not to slip on the layer of snow and ice that still remained. But on the plus side, I think we burned a few extra calories for our efforts. I will have to return in another season though – I can imagine residents sitting on their porches in the summer, gardens and window boxes overflowing. Or brilliant foliage with pumpkins and mums in the fall.

The West End was the last portion of Hartford to be developed before serious expansion into West Hartford began to occur. Until the 1870’s it was mostly farmland but due to population growth and industrial development, plans were made to expand into that space.

By 1895 Hartford was growing by leaps and bounds and rapid construction of middle class homes began in the West End, taking advantage of the trolley line that ran from Hartford up Farmington Avenue, which is the modern-day commercial district of the West End with a concentration of apartment buildings, restaurants and other local small businesses.

The resulting neighborhood in the south portion of the West End became an eclectic mixture of homes with features drawn from different architectural styles. At the time, very ornate Queen Anne (a type of Victorian) architecture was starting to go out of style and Colonial Revival, a more simple, traditional style, was becoming popular.

West End homes are a beautiful combination of both, with individual homes drawing from each as well as other styles from time to time. The result is a collection of homes which can’t be easily categorized as one particular style. Nothing cookie cutter about them which is what I love and what I think is lost in so much of the architecture of more recent decades.

The West End is still a desirable area to live in Hartford and residents have a strong community voice via the West End Civic Association. City living has its challenges, but these homeowners have a shared interest in maintaining this historic neighborhood, keeping it whole for future generations.

I plan to share more pictures in a future post where you will see some of the more colorful homes from my walk (as if these weren’t colorful enough!) so stay tuned. And if you have the chance, take a walk here. Make it a date! We ended ours with a hot coffee from Tisane, a great little cafe on Farmington Avenue – the perfect finish to our urban arctic adventure.

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If you enjoyed this post, you might enjoy 7 Little Known Facts About Windsor, CT.

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