The Samuel Eliot House is a historic house at 500 Main Street in

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 10, ...

. 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972.

Description and history

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 The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

that was the site of the initial settlement of the

Saybrook Colony The Saybrook Colony was a short-lived English colony established in New England in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in what is today Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Saybrook was founded by a group of Puritan noblemen as a potential politic ...

. It is a -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 Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by ...

, 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. The house's construction date is traditionally said to be 1737, when Samuel Eliot (son of Yale founding trustee

Jared Eliot Jared Eliot (November 7, 1685—April 22, 1763) was an American colonial scientist, minister, and physician. He was born in Guilford, Connecticut, but spent most of his life from 1707 until his death in Killingsworth, now called Clinton, Connectic ...

) 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. and

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Houses in Old Saybrook, Connecticut Houses completed in 1737 National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References