Villa Bella Vista, also known as the Eila Pierre House and The Ledges, is a historic house at 7 Old Depot Road in

Chester, Connecticut Chester is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,749 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place (CDP). The name is a transfer from Chester, in Engla ...

. Built in 1908 by Italian masons, it is an architecturally distinctive structure, designed to resemble farmhouses of northern Italy. 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

Villa Bella Vista is located east of the village center of Chester, on the north side of Old Depot Road just east of Connecticut Route 154. It is a large two-story structure, set on a hill overlooking 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 ...

. It is built out of concrete faced in stuccoed stone, with a three-story tower at the northwest corner, which (like the main roof) has a shallow pitch with deep overhangs. The east side of the house has an open piazza sheltered by

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

s, with French doors providing access to the piazza from the house. There are several second-floor balconies, one of which is accessed by doors having Gothic pointed arches. The villa was built in 1908, and was designed by the owner, Eila Pierre, who was inspired by the

Italianate architecture The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

of farmhouses in northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Although she was not a professional architect, she drew up the plans herself, adapting the form and materials to the settings of the hilltop site. The construction work was conducted by Italian immigrant masons who also did work on the nearby

Gillette Castle Gillette Castle State Park straddles the towns of East Haddam and Lyme, Connecticut in the United States, sitting high above the Connecticut River. The castle was designed and built by William Gillette (1853–1937), an American actor most famous ...

. Pierre had what was considered locally to be a fairly scandalous life, as a divorcee (from the local Congregationalist minister) who had several gentleman companions. and

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Chester, Connecticut Italianate architecture in Connecticut Houses in Middlesex County, Connecticut Houses completed in 1908 National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut 1908 establishments in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References