The Laflin—Phelps Homestead is a historic house at 20 Depot Street in

Southwick, Massachusetts Southwick is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,232 at the 2020 census, down from 9,502 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Southw ...

. Built in the early 19th century, circa 1808–1821, it is a local example of

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...

architecture. The property was listed in 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 v ...

in 2005.

Description and history

The Laflin—Phelps Homestead is located on the eastern fringe of Southwick's village center, on the north side of Depot Street opposite its junction with Sheep Pasture Road. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

and clapboarded exterior. It originally had a -story ell on the back, which was expanded to a full stories sometime between 1830 and 1850. The main facade is five bays wide, with a single-story Victorian porch extending across the front. It has wooden corner quoin, and a fully pedimented gable with an oval window in the center. The interior follows a modified center hall plan, with the central staircase closed off from the hall and set further back than is typical for houses of its period. The right front parlor features a particularly fine

fireplace mantel, and wide pine floors are found in several rooms. A barn, built c. 1820, was demolished in 2004; only its foundation remains. The date of the house's construction is uncertain: the property was purchased in 1809 by Heman Laflin, member of the locally prominent Laflin family, who were among Southwick's early settlers. It is not believed that there was a house on the property in 1807, so the house may have been built either by or for Laflin. The Laflins were the first family in the town to establish industry in Southwick, founding mills for the manufacture of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

in 1775, some of which supported the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The house was purchased from the Laflin family by Marcus Phelps in 1865, in whose family it remained as of 2016. The house stands on just over , reduced from a larger farm parcel.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Houses in Hampden County, Massachusetts Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Hampden County, Massachusetts Federal architecture in Massachusetts Southwick, Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References