The Oliver Ellsworth Homestead, also known as Elmwood, is 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 ...

at 788 Palisado Avenue in

Windsor, Connecticut Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census. Po ...

. Built in 1781, it was the home of the American lawyer and politician

Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, jurist, politician, and diplomat. Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution, United States senator from Connecticut ...

until his death in 1807, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

because of this association. A

Founding Father of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American revolutionary Patriots, also known as Revolutionaries, Continentals, Rebels, or American Whigs, were t ...

, Ellsworth (1745–1807) helped draft the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

, served as the third Chief Justice of the United States, and was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The house is owned and maintained and operated as a museum by th
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution
and is open for tours upon request.

Description and history

The Ellsworth House stands in northern Windsor, on the east side of Palisado Avenue (

Connecticut Route 159 Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

), near its junction with Macktown Road. Palisado Avenue is a historically old road, originally serving as the main north–south route on the west bank of 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 at Long Island ...

. The house is a -story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays wide, with a two-bay extension to the south that is recessed beneath a shared roofline supported by Tuscan columns. The original five-bay block has end chimneys. The main entrance is at its center, sheltered by a 19th-century gabled portico. The interior retains features of the late 19th century, including furnishings and decorative materials associated with Oliver Ellsworth and his family.. A house was built on this site in 1740 by David Ellsworth, and it is in that house that Oliver Ellsworth was raised. Documentary records show that Oliver Ellsworth, having inherited the property, contracted in 1781 for the construction of a new house on the site of the old, which may have reused some of its elements, including the foundation. His family moved in the following year, and it remained his home until his death in 1807. The two-bay extension to the south was added in 1788, although the roofline and Tuscan columns are a 19th-century alteration. The name Elmwood derives from the thirteen elm trees Ellsworth planted in honor of the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of Kingdom of Great Britain, British Colony, colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Fo ...

. Elmwood was visited by two sitting Presidents:

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

(on October 21, 1789) and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

(October 3, 1799). The house was occupied by the Ellsworth family until 1903 when it was given to the Connecticut

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

. The homestead was restored in the late 1980s and early 1990s and is now a museum.Oliver Ellsworth Homestead Museum
/ref> The property includes a meeting hall built in the 1930s, which the DAR make available as a function and event space. The house 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 v ...

in 1970, and declared a

in 1989.

References

External links

Oliver Ellsworth HomesteadConnecticut Daughters of the American Revolution, Inc.
{{Authority control Houses completed in 1740 Houses completed in 1781 Ellsworth Oliver Museums in Hartford County, Connecticut National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut Historic house museums in Connecticut Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut 1740 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Homes of United States Founding Fathers

Description and history

See also

References

External links