The King's Field House is a historic house at 827 North Street in
Suffield, Connecticut
Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, and located in the Connecticut River Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
. Built about 1723 by the son of an early settler, it is a well-preserved example of 18th-century residential architecture. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1982.
Description and history
The King's Field House stands in a rural suburban area north of the village center of Suffield, on the west side of North Street. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. The rear roof line of the main block descends to the first floor, giving the house a classic
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 wood ...
profile. A modern gable-roofed addition projects to the rear (north) of the main block. The interior exhibits evidence of three periods of development, all in the 18th century: the timber framing is stylisting from the late
First Period (1720s), parlor spaces have been decorated with later Georgian wood paneling, and the main entrance surround, a late 18th-century proto-Federalist surround with a false fanlight.
The house was built about 1723 by Lieutenant William King. King was the son of James King, one of Suffield's early colonial settlers, and was given the surrounding acreage in 1722. King was a major local landowner who was active in civic affairs, serving as a town selectman for many years. Later generations of Kings also lived here, operating diverse businesses including a blacksmith shop and a cooperage. The house underwent restoration in the 1930s by Delphina Clark, the first woman admitted to the
Yale School of Architecture and a one-time resident of the house.
[ The house was restored in the 1930s by Delphina Hammer Clark, author of ''Pictures of Suffield Houses'' (1940) and ''Notebooks on Houses in Suffield'' (1960). The house is now a Bed & Breakfast called Kingsfield.]
See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in Hartford County, Connecticut
Houses completed in 1723
Houses in Hartford County, Connecticut
Suffield, Connecticut