The Thomas Burgis II House is a historic house at 85 Boston Street in
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census.
History
Guilfo ...
. With a construction history dating to about 1735, it is one of Guilford's finest and best-documented colonial-era houses, standing on property with a documented history to the 17th century.
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 2000.
Description and history
The Thomas Burgis II House is located east of the Guilford village green, on the south side of Boston Street (
Connecticut Route 146
Route 146 is a state road that serves as a scenic alternative to US 1 between Branford and Guilford in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Route 146 is long, with in Branford and in Guilford.
Route description
Route 146 begins in Branford as Ma ...
) between Graves Avenue and Pearl Street. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays, with a center entrance framed by pilasters and a corniced entablature. The rear roof face extends to the first floor, giving the house a
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 woode ...
profile. The walls are plank-framed, and elements of the house's post and beam framing are exposed on the interior. Other surviving interior features include oak floors and builtin cabinetry. A wing extends to the main block's left.
[
The oldest portion of the house, the front portion of the main block, dates to c. 1735, and was extended c. 1800 to give it the present ]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 woode ...
configuration. It is one of Guilford's oldest and best-documented houses. Thomas Burgis, for whose like-named son it was built, was a remarkably successful cordwainer (shoemaker), who also operated a tannery. The house was sold out of the family in 1874, and was given a major restoration in the 1990s.[
]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgis 2, Thomas, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Federal architecture in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1735
Houses in Guilford, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven County, Connecticut