The Samuel Eliot House is a historic house at 500 Main Street in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Probably built in 1737, it is a well-preserved example of Georgian residential architecture, and one of Old Saybrook's older buildings. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1]

Samuel Eliot House
Samuel Eliot House is located in Connecticut
Samuel Eliot House
Samuel Eliot House is located in the United States
Samuel Eliot House
Location500 Main St., Old Saybrook, Connecticut
Coordinates41°17′2″N 72°22′8″W / 41.28389°N 72.36889°W / 41.28389; -72.36889
Area4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built1737 (1737)
NRHP reference No.72001316[1]
Added to NRHPNovember 9, 1972

Description and history

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The Samuel Eliot House is located in a residential area south of the town center of Old Saybrook, on the narrow section of the Saybrook Point Peninsula, an east-facing projection into the Connecticut River that was the site of the initial settlement of the Saybrook Colony. It is a 2+12-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof and two interior chimneys. Its main entrance is centered on the south facade, with a projecting portico supported by square posts. The interior has retained much of its original woodwork, include wide floorboards on the second floor, fine carved fireplace surrounds on the ground floor, and the carved elements of the main staircase and hall.[2]

The house's construction date is traditionally said to be 1737, when Samuel Eliot (son of Yale founding trustee Jared Eliot) was married. Eliot, a physician, never actually lived in the house, due to ill health and an early death. The house was owned for many years by the Stowe and Newell families (related by marriage), who acquired the house in 1753. Some of its features, notably its interior Federal period features and an unusual fireplace frame credited to the Pennsylvanian Isaac Potts, date to their period of ownership.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Joseph Ames Thompson (March 15, 1972). "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Samuel Eliot House". National Park Service. and Accompanying seven photos, exterior and interior, from 1971