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 appearance. It is one of the few original homes remaining in Nook Farm, the Hartford neighborhood that was an enclave of authors and social reformers in the mid-to-late 1800s during the glorious and infamous “Gilded Age”, a term that Mark Twain coined with his book of the same name.
We are fortunate that both the Mark Twain House and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House were preserved with the efforts and foresight of Katherine Seymour Day, but the remaining homes in Nook Farm were not so lucky. Over time they have been demolished, either individually or in large swaths to make way for new buildings such as Hartford Public High School.
Charles Boardman Smith was not an author but a businessman, a Senior Partner in the Smith-Worthington Saddlery Company, “Saddle Makers Since Washington Was President” according to their website. Started in 1794 by his father Normand Smith, the company has weathered many storms over the years but is still open for business in Hartford.
His magnificent home was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by Richard Upjohn, an architect most noted for his design of the incredible Connecticut State Capitol in the same architectural style. The home has been owned over the years by various parties and at one time housed the Twain House Museum administrative staff.
As one of the last remaining traces of an important era in Hartford’s history, my wish is for this home to remain and for it to ultimately have an owner that can restore it to its former glory. As the opening quote so eloquently states, it seems all too easy for Americans to throw our homes and buildings away and this home is an opportunity to retain a view to our past.
This post is featured as part of the Thursday Doors weekly round-up on Norm 2.0. Pay his site a visit to see the wide variety of doors featured, or come join the fun with your own entry.
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Want to learn a bit more about Nook Farm? Take a look at this excellent article shared on ConnecticutHistory.org.
My name is Deb Cohen, and I am a lifelong resident of Connecticut, a lover of all things historic and New England, and a realtor who helps buyers and sellers achieve their real estate goals and dreams. When I’m not working, I enjoy life with my husband, our two adult children, and our two rescue pups. Renovating and decorating our historic home, dating to 1800, is another favorite pastime.
Wonderful building Deb – amazing that it’s not protected but I know not every country has the same ideas about preservation of architecture as we do in England (France is fairly poor in this respect too) – still hope someone with a bit of vision and a large bank account comes along soon!
Thanks Jane – me too! Technically, I think this home is protected now, which is great. Some new protections have been put into place in Hartford within the last couple of years to further protect our National Register buildings from demolition. Prior to that, a building could have the National Register designation but still be demolished unless someone decided to sue (which would be quite rare). Unfortunately these laws came much too late for the other buildings in that neighborhood. Also unfortunately, each individual city and/or town has to adopt this law for it to be effective. So my town, which neighbors Hartford, doesn’t have the same protections and therefore our National Register homes can be quite easily torn down.
Here’s hoping your wish comes true. Is it located right near the Mark Twain house?
It is! The Twain House is on Farmington Avenue, and this home and the Stowe Center are right around the corner on Forest Street.
Fabulous ‘Gothic’ roof. Love it.
Isn’t it amazing? My favorite part!
Wouldn’t it be cool if an investor came along with the funds to restore it and then maintain and run the place as an historical Inn or B & B ?
It would be SO cool 🙂 maybe one day I will have good news to report!
I would love to see this home restored (I would hate to have to foot the bill, but…) Beautiful choice for today Deb.
So sorry for the late reply! The blog had to fall by the wayside for a few days 🙂 I hope to see it restored too one day. At least it is protected from demolition which is saying something!