Holiday Festival Walking Tour—

Homes With Histories Will Be Open On Sunday

The addresses and brief histories for the five homes on the walking tour of the 18th Annual Family Counseling Center Holiday Festival have been announced by the chairmen of Sunday afternoon’s event.

In 18th Annual Holiday Festival will be presented on Sunday, December 7, with most events ––including the house tours –– running from 11 am to 5 pm. In addition to the walking tours the event will offer ballet and live music performances, The Festival of Trees, an ongoing family workshop, a Victorian Tea with live music, and New England Café. An arts and crafts show at Newtown High School and an antiques show at Edmond Town Hall will both be opening at 10 am.

Admission to festival events is by ticket. Adult festival tickets are $20 in advance, $25 on December 7. Tickets for seniors and children between the ages of 6 and 14 are $15 in advance, $18 the day of the festival.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at Drug Center Pharmacy, on Church Hill Road; Family Counseling Center, 121 Mt Pleasant Road; and Newtown Savings Bank branches in Newtown, Bethel, Monroe, and Southbury.

The locations of the homes on the walking tour and some aspects of their histories follow. (Details on the festival itself can be found in this week’s Enjoy section.) Expect lines outside each of the homes. The walking tour has consistently been one of the most popular events of every Holiday Festival. Please try to abide by the following guidelines.

People have been asked not to try to visit these private homes before or after the festival hours. The homeowners, who have been gracious enough to open their residences for six hours to the public, have asked that their privacy be respected once the tour is over.

Children must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian at all times while visiting the homes. To ease on overcrowding, strollers should be left outdoors if at all possible.

Use doormats before entering each home, and do not smoke in any of the homes.

While visiting these homes guests are asked not to touch any of the items inside the dwellings. Treat the homes like museums: look but do not touch.

House captains at each of the homes on the tour will be able to answer some questions. They will also have additional information on the homes beyond what is offered here.

The illustrations of the homes that appear in The Bee this week and in the Holiday Festival program guides, which will be distributed on Sunday, have been done again this year by Zoltan Csillag. A resident of Newtown, Mr Csillag owns a business called The House Portrait Company. Mr Zoltag’s illustrations were also used in the 2002 Holiday Festival programs as well as in The Newtown Bee.

 

13 Sugar Street

Home of Francois and Natalie DeBrantes

Decorated by Newtown Florist

22 Church Hill Road, Newtown

This large Victorian home is believed to have been built in 1888 by I.B. Harris, a railroad executive from New York City who purportedly worked for Andrew Carnegie. The three-story tower and wraparound porch are a combination of Queen Anne and Italian age highlights, while the stained glass windows of Eastlake style were meant to add a romantic touch to the home’s ambiance.

On the inside, the home has retained many of its original features. The cornices, moldings, woodwork, doorknobs, and stained glass windows date back to the construction of the house.

One interesting alteration was made, however, during the early 20th Century. Each of the home’s original ten fireplaces and chimneys were removed. According to The Centennial Map of Newtown, the chimneys had been removed in 1905 and it is believed the fireplaces were dismantled shortly thereafter.

Today, the placement of the home on the lot may seem strange, but when the Harrises built the home it was designed so that the family could enjoy the view to the east of the historic Ram Pasture from the home’s majestic wraparound porch. The Harris family owned a large parcel of land, which at the time included Ram Pasture and all the land reaching south to Village Cemetery.

Named Jeanville, the home was built during a time when some of the town’s wealthier residents began to settle away from Main Street, on its periphery. In his book Newtown: 1900–1960 Town Historian Dan Cruson dates the house to 1889 and says that Mr Harris’s reason for calling his estate Jeanville is unknown.

7 Main Street

Home of Doug McDonald

Home of Paul and Tracy McManus

Decorated by Craft Basket

117 Old State Road, Brookfield

Built some time between 1790 and 1800, this building is significant as an example of a late 18th Century structure that has been moved from a prior location. Said to have been used as an annex to the original Newtown Inn, the house was moved to its present site when the inn was torn down in 1931 for construction of Cyrenius H. Booth Library.

The house boasts symmetrically placed chimneys on each end and a round arched window with six-over-six sash at the north gable.

Additionally, Colonial Revival style is evident in the two hip-roofed dormers at the front roof face and the one-story porch supported by six Doric columns that extend across the front.

The broad and wrapping porch offers a grand view of Main Street, which was purposely laid out wide when first created. From north to south Main Street was originally 132 feet wide. The vastness, according to The League of Women Voter’s Newtown Connecticut: Directions and Images, “was most likely for safety to prevent surprise attacks from any foe.”

50 Main Street

Home of George and Shane Miller

Decorated by Julia Nable Interiors, Newtown,

and Maybeck and Williams Gardens, Newtown

This impressive three-story, Second Empire style residence was built in 1869 by Henry Beers Glover. The popularity of Second Empire architecture peaked in the United States in the period 1865 to 1875, immediately following the time when the Italianate style was at its height. Second Empire style is distinguished from other Victorian architectural styles by the presence of the Mansard roof.

Mr Glover and Henry Beers owned this site, which originally contained two houses, one of which was torn down to make way for this one. The second house was moved across the street to the lot just north of Edmond Town Hall (currently 49 Main Street).

This house remained in the same family for more than 100 years. Its original owner, Henry Beers Glover, was one of the founders of Newtown Savings Bank and served as its treasurer for most of the bank’s first 15 years. He also became a director of First National Bank of Bridgeport in 1859.

During his years in Newtown Mr Beers was also an active supporter of Trinity Episcopal Church, serving as a member of the building committee that oversaw the construction of the new church completed in 1870. He also lent liberal financial support to this project.

Sadly, Henry Beers Glover did not live to enjoy his new house for very long. The home’s construction was completed in 1869, and Mr Beers Glover passed away on March 31, 1870, at the age of 45. The house descended to his wife and two daughters. When Mr Beers Glover’s widow died five years later, the two girls were left wealthy orphans and the new owners of 50 Main Street. The girls continued to share the house for years until ultimately one of the sisters, Mary B. Glover, and her husband, William J. Beecher, an attorney who served as Newtown’s Town Clerk and Judge of Probate, became the sole owners of the property.

Upon the death of the couple, the house then passed to daughter Florence Beecher, who married Stephen E. Budd. Mrs Budd lived in the house all of her life, from 1918 until she died in 1977, which is why many Newtown residents know of the house as “The Budd House.”

The large Victorian residence is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as The Glover House, after its first owner. Among its many distinctive exterior features are the classic Corinthian columns supporting its spacious front porch and the mansard roof decorated with patterns created by the varicolored and multishaped slate roofing tiles.

At the time of its construction, this was one of the largest and most impressive homes in Newtown, reflecting the prosperity and social position of its builder.

A beautiful and inviting house year-round, The Budd House was last on the Holiday Festival House Tour in 2000, and there were lines to get into the dwelling all day.

68 Main Street

Home of Gretchen and Larry Hyde

Decorated by Arrangements, Newtown

Built by Captain Thomas Bennit from Stratford in 1729 (many Newtown pioneers were Stratford Anglicans), this house has survived at least one fire and many major alterations. Its original appearance is unknown. The property was a borderline for the former Wapping School district.

Captain Bennit left his mark in Newtown as justice of the peace, an early first selectman, and auditor of the Newtown Meeting House accounts. In 1712 he was among the first residents granted the right to pitch for land. He was part of the town committee that decided on the layout of the town’s earliest country roads. Three years later he was also on the committee that laid out a highway from Newtown to Sandy Hook.

In December 1714 Captain Bennit was a member of the committee that selected a site and construction of the town’s first grist mill, “the getting of a grist mill that would grind the town’s grain was matter for serious consideration, being an absolute necessity,” wrote Town Historian Ezra Johnson in his important History of Newtown, Conn., published in 1917.

He was also one of two men (the other being Johathan Booth) who represented the residents of Newtown when the purchase of additional land was made from the Pootatuck Indian known as Quiomph in 1723.

Captain Bennit was also among the group of 36 men who took the Freeman’s Oath in 1747, the second time in the young town’s history a group of townspeople took the oath and the first year in town records that indicate Newtown had a representative at the General Court.

There are many historic names that have been associated with this house over the years, including the Widow Judson (circa 1856), M. Morehouse (circa 1867), and G.A. Northrop (circa 1905).

 George A. Northrop was a member of the first class initiated into Pohtatuck Grange (the grange was organized March 9, 1892; the date of the first class’s welcome is unclear).

Also, when the town’s original lodge building was destroyed by fire in May 1805, Mr Northrop –– along with Masonic Brothers A.M. Brisco, L.C. Morris, C.P. Northrop, and S.A. Blackman –– served on the building committee for the construction of Hiram Lodge No 18, Hiram Chapter, No 1, RAM and Jephtha Chapter, No 51, Order of the Eastern Star, in November 1906.

A window within the house is said to have an inscription scratched upon it reading “Aaron Burr 1790.”

1 Academy Lane

Home of Missy and Andy Williams

Decorated by Lexington Gardens

32 Church Hill Road, Newtown

Built in 1897, this Colonial is one of two colonial homes to sit on either side of Academy Lane at the crest of a rise facing the curve of Currituck Road, marking the northern boundary of Newtown’s historic village as indicated on period maps. An 1856 map shows this property being associated with S.N. Sanford and on an 1867 atlas, a Mrs Turner is listed as owner of the site.

It has a flat roofed entryway supported by two Doric columns finished by a decorative balustrade above, and two chimneys positioned as a pair at the center of its roof ridge. This building has undergone a great amount of late 20th Century alterations.

Built as a five-bay, central entrance colonial dwelling, the house was renovated in 1992. It features two chimneys in the center of its roof ridge, a two-story addition, stone walls, and gardens.

Academy Lane was named for Newtown Academy, originally built in 1837 to serve students after they had completed primary school. The academy continued operating until 1885. (The academy was actually situated where Newtown Savings Bank’s Main Street office stands today, and it is another Main Street building with the distinction of having been moved from its original location.)

Also Open On Sunday

In addition to these private homes, Trinity Episcopal Church and Newtown Meeting House will be open.

Newtown’s parish is one of the few American Episcopal churches that can claim a continuous history dating back as far as 250 years. The stone church is at 30 Main Street, with plenty of parking available in a lot accessible from Main Street and Church Hill Road.

The church underwent major restorations three years ago. It was the fourth major restoration and renovation for the stone building since it was constructed in 1870; Newtown’s Trinity Church was first built, as a wooden structure, in 1720.

The project included restoration of the nave and sanctuary, including repainting of the symbols on the wall behind the altar and the arches throughout the church. The colors in the symbols behind the altar shine with the brilliance of real gold and silver. New carpeting was installed, and electrical wiring was updated.

New clear coverings to protect the stained glass windows at the top of the building have allowed more light into the church as well as allowing the vibrant colors to show. As part of the restoration, the windows themselves were taken out, boxed, and taken to North Adams, Mass., where they were releaded and reframed before returning to Newtown.

Church pews were regrained and stained a dark mahogany and placed at an angle toward the altar. Another committee restored the of needlepoint kneelers at the altar. A slate floor was installed in the sanctuary, and the church doors were restored. Few things within the building and its parish house were left untouched during the 2000 renovations.

Tours will be given of the church during the Holiday Festival. At 4 pm the public is invited to attend Trinity’s annual Advent service of lessons and carols. There are six lessons — readings from the Old and New Testaments that are appropriate for Advent — that are offered between the performances of carols by Trinity’s Choir.

At 31 Main Street, just across the street from Trinity, stands Newtown Meeting House. The meetinghouse, of course, has the distinction of being one of Main Street’s oldest buildings (along with 49 Main Street, which was moved all the way across the road around 1891, and the former Newtown Academy building), that has been moved from its original location.

When first built in 1714 the meetinghouse stood where the flagpole stands today. It also measured just 50 by 36 feet. A rooster weathervane –– The Chanticleer, which has become Newtown’s official symbol –– has stood on the steeple of the building since the mid-18th Century.

In a well-planned move that last 90 minutes and included manpower, ropes, and oxen, the building –– by the Newtown Congregational Church –– was moved eight rods west on June 13, 1792. The building underwent extensive renovations between 1845 and 1852.

The meetinghouse was built in 1720 and has been at the heart of the community ever since. In Colonial days the building was the religious, political, and social center of the town. From the mid 1800s until 1988 it was the official home of Newtown Congregational Church. The meetinghouse was sold to the Town of Newtown in 1988 and it was then that the not-for-profit Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown was set up for the continued maintenance of the beautiful and historic building.

Extensive interior and exterior renovations were undertaken in 1989, remaining true to the original architecture. When the project was finished in 1991, the building’s trust received a merit award from Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Newtown Meeting House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has received an official citation for historic preservation excellence from the Connecticut General Assembly.

Today the meetinghouse remains a living part of the town’s past and is one of few places open to the public that can host a variety of cultural and political events, as well as private functions including nondenominational, interfaith religious and civil wedding ceremonies.