The Solomon Goffe House 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 677 North Colony Street in
Meriden, Connecticut
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 2020, the population of the city was 60,850.[gambrel
A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, w ...]
roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. It is eight bays wide, with two entrances and six windows; there are four shed-roof dormers on the front roof face. The interior has undergone significant alterations, but three downstairs rooms remain relatively unaltered, and other features are preserved elsewhere.
The house was built about 1711 by Solomon Goffe, about whom little is known. It was probably constructed at first as a five-bay structure, with the northern three bays added later. It had received numerous small additions in the 20th century,
[ most of which have been removed during restoration.
]
Current use
The house is currently a museum owned by the city. There are tours the first Sunday of the month from April to November 1:30pm to 4:30pm. Each month has a different theme. One of the highlights of the landscaping is its traditional herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
garden, which was designed after examples of typical 18th century herb gardens in the area.
The Archaeology Society of Connecticut has done some digs on the property and found a number of objects, including an axe blade.
See also
* List of the oldest buildings in Connecticut
This article lists the oldest buildings in the state of Connecticut, United States of America. The dates of construction are based on land tax and probate records, architectural studies, genealogy, radio carbon dating, and dendrochronology. Buildi ...
*
References
External links
Solomon Goffe House - Meriden Patch
{{Connecticut
Buildings and structures in Meriden, Connecticut
Houses completed in 1711
Goffe House
Saltbox architecture in Connecticut
Houses in New Haven County, Connecticut
Archaeological sites in Connecticut
Museums in New Haven County, Connecticut
Historic house museums in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut
1711 establishments in Connecticut