The Alexander King House is a historic house at 232 South Main Street in
Suffield, Connecticut
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It was once within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. As of the 2020 census, ...
. Built in 1764, the house interior contains one of the state's finest collections of 18th-century Georgian woodwork. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1976.
It is now a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
operated by the Suffield Historical Society.
Description and history
The Alexander King House stands near the southern edge of Suffield's village center, on the east side of South Main Street opposite Willow Creek Avenue. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. A single-story gabled ell extends to the rear, and a shed-roof porch is attached to the right side. The main facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance framed by pilasters, a multilight transom window, and a corniced entablature. The interior follows a typical center-chimney plan, with an entrance vestibule with winding stair in front, parlors on either side of the chimney, and a kitchen with small corner rooms in the rear. The left parlor is the finest room in the house, with a fully paneled fireplace wall, and a corner cabinet framed by pilasters rising to an arch. The right parlor also retains original paneling and cabinetry. The stair in the vestibule features delicately carved balusters. The kitchen walls are also mostly paneled, although with simpler styling.
The house was built in 1764 by Alexander King, one of Suffield's leading citizens of the time. King had graduated from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
, and practiced medicine in the town. He was politically active, serving as a town selectman for many years and in the state legislature. He supported the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, and was a delegate to the state convention which ratified the
United States Constitution in 1788.
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See also
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References
External links
King House Museum
- Suffield Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Alexander, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Houses completed in 1764
Houses in Hartford County, Connecticut
Suffield, Connecticut
Museums in Hartford County, Connecticut
Historic house museums in Connecticut
Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut