The Glebe House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as 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 variety of ...

at 49 Hollow Road in Woodbury,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

. Built about 1740, it is a prominent local example of Georgian colonial architecture. It is also important as the site of the first Episcopal Church election in the United States. It was added to 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 1971. It is open for regular tours between May and October, and by appointment.

Description

The Glebe House stands near the southern end of Woodbury's main village, on the south side of Hollow Road near its junction with Connecticut Route 317. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a modified

saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a wood ...

profile. Its front roof has two faces in the gambrel form, and the rear face, also gambreled, is slightly curved, extending down to the top of the first floor. It has a five-bay front facade, with a center entrance topped by a transom window and corniced entablature. The building interior retains many original features, including one of the largest known kitchen fireplaces in the state.

History

The Glebe House was built around 1740 for the Rev. John Rutgers Marshall and his wife Sarah as the rectory for St. Paul's Church in Woodbury. The Marshalls lived there from 1771 until 1785. On March 29, 1783, it was the site of the first episcopal election in the United States. Ten clergy met at the house and selected

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...

and Jeremiah Leaming as candidates for Bishop of Connecticut. Leaming was the first choice of the clergy and Seabury as backup if Leaming declined, which he did, due to age and health. After the Marshalls left the house, it fell into disrepair by the 1920s. In 1923, the house was purchased by Edward C. Acheson, Bishop Coadjutor of Connecticut, who formed the Seabury Society for the Preservation of Glebe House. Under the direction of

Henry Watson Kent Henry Watson Kent (September 28, 1866 – August 28, 1948) was an American librarian and museum administrator, "a great pioneer in American museum education and administration". Early life and education Henry Watson Kent was born in Boston on Sep ...

, the Secretary of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, the house was restored. In 1926,

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...

was commissioned to design an "old fashioned" garden to enhance the newly created museum. Her design included a hedge with a flower border and path leading to the door; a small, formal garden and six vegetable plots in the rear of the house; and narrow borders flanking the door.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Glebe House Museum web site
Houses in Litchfield County, Connecticut Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut Woodbury, Connecticut Historic house museums in Connecticut Museums in Litchfield County, Connecticut Historic district contributing properties in Connecticut

Description

History

See also

References

External links