The Samuel Smith House is a historic
First Period
First Period is an American architecture style in the time period between approximately 1626 and 1725, used by British colonists during the earliest English settlements in United States, particularly in Massachusetts and Virginia and later in ...
house at 82 Plants Dam Road in
East Lyme,
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 capita ...
. With a construction history dating to about 1700, it is one of the oldest buildings in the community, exhibiting a pattern of architectural changes over the 18th century. The house was added to 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 ...
on June 4, 1979.
Description and history
The Samuel Smith House is located in a rural setting in western East Lyme, on the north side of Plants Dam Road a short way west of its junction with North Bride Brook Road. It is a -story gambrel-roofed Cape style house, with clapboard and shingle siding, a five bay facade, and a large central chimney. The facade is slightly asymmetrical, with the entrance near its center. The interior follows a central chimney plan, with the east side of the house exhibiting construction methods of the early 18th century, as well as period featheredged wood paneling. There is also a rare surviving fireplace in the basement, indicative that it probably served as a summer kitchen.
[
The oldest portion of the house, its east side, was built c. 1700, and the main block reached its present size c. 1730.] The house was built on land that had been grant
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* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
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ed to Thomas Bull, one of the founders of Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...
, for his service in the Pequot War of 1637. In 1692 Thomas Bull's sons sold the land to Nehemiah Smith, Jr. In 1698 Bull transferred it to his second son, Samuel, who built this house near the Niantic River
The Niantic River is a mainly tidal river in eastern Connecticut. It is crossed by the Niantic River Bridge carrying Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. It separates the towns of East Lyme and Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, ma ...
. The house passed out of the Smith family in 1746.[
]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Samuel, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1700
Houses in East Lyme, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut
1700 establishments in Connecticut