The Thomas Lee House is a historic house at the junction of Giant's Neck Road and
Connecticut Route 156
Route 156 is a Connecticut state highway running from East Haddam to Waterford.
Route description
Route 156 begins at an intersection with Route 82 in southeastern East Haddam and heads southeast into Lyme. It continues south through Lyme int ...
in the
Niantic section of
East Lyme, Connecticut
East Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 18,693 at the 2020 census. The villages of Niantic and Flanders are located in the town.
Geography
East Lyme is located in southern New London County, west ...
. Built about 1660, it is one of the
oldest wood-frame houses in Connecticut. Restored in the early 20th century by
Norman Isham
Norman Morrison Isham (1864–1943) was a prominent architectural historian, author, and professor at Brown University and RISD. He was an ardent preservationist and a pioneer in the study of early American architecture.
Biography
Norman M ...
, it is now maintained by the East Lyme Historical Society as a museum. It 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.
Description and history
The Thomas Lee House is located in southwestern East Lyme, on the south side of CT 156 just east of
Rocky Neck State Park
Rocky Neck State Park is a public recreation area on Long Island Sound in the town of East Lyme, Connecticut, United States. The state park's include a tidal river, a broad salt marsh, white sand beaches, rocky shores, and a large stone pavilion ...
. It is a -story structure, with a post-and-beam timber frame erected on six 2-story wall posts, and covered by a steeply pitched roof with a large brick central chimney. Its exterior clapboards appear to be original. The main facade is five bays wide, with a regular arrangement that is offset to the right. The entrance is in the central bay, with flanking pilasters rising to a transom window and corniced entablature.
The interior is indicative of the building's evolutionary construction history. Its oldest portion, probably built between 1660 and 1664, was a single-pile two-story structure with a side chimney. This was later altered by the addition of another pile on the opposite side of the chimney, and by the addition of a leanto to what had been its front, after a new road was cut to the north of the house. A small, stone-walled partial cellar pit under part of the hall was reached through a trap door. A massive fireplace with timber lintel spanned most of the west wall. Around 1700, the West Parlor and West Chamber were added as a free standing structure framed on its own four corner posts. About 1765, the lean-to with the Kitchen and its adjoining rooms were added.
[ and ] by Thomas Lee II. The West Parlor was plastered, the summer beam and chimney girt were sheathed, and the paneling formerly on the plastered walls was reused in the lean-to. New paneling, with four flute pilasters was added on the fireplace wall.
![Thomas Lee House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Thomas_Lee_House.jpg)
The house was built by Thomas Lee, the second of that name to own the land, and remained in the Lee family until the mid-19th century, when it was sold to a neighbor. It was used as a chicken house and for storage until 1914, when Lee family descendant banded together with the
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England ...
to repurchase the house. The house was given a painstaking restoration to its believed 17th-century appearance under the guidance of early preservationist
Norman Isham
Norman Morrison Isham (1864–1943) was a prominent architectural historian, author, and professor at Brown University and RISD. He was an ardent preservationist and a pioneer in the study of early American architecture.
Biography
Norman M ...
, and was opened as a museum in 1915.
Today the 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 ...
operated by the East Lyme Historical Society, and furnished as it would have been in the 18th century.
East Lyme Historical Society website retrieved on 2018-03-14
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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 ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut
References
External links
Thomas Lee House and Museum
- East Lyme Historical Society, official site
*
Thomas Lee House & Little Boston Schoolhouse
- local tourism information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Thomas, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Historic American Buildings Survey in Connecticut
Houses completed in 1664
Saltbox architecture in Connecticut
Museums in New London County, Connecticut
Historic house museums in Connecticut
Houses in East Lyme, Connecticut
Historical society museums in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New London County, Connecticut
1664 establishments in Connecticut