Description

Address: Corner of Laurel Grove and Wadsworth Street, Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...

Style: Center-Chimney Colonial

Date of Construction: 1744

Materials: Clapboard siding and brownstone

Brownstone

Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...

 foundation with wood shingle

Wood shingle

Wood shingles are roof shingles made of cut wood, used for roofing material. Such roofing material made from split wood is referred to as "shakes"....

 roof

Structural System: Wood frame, Post and beam with Gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

 roof

Architect: Unknown

Builder: Unknown

Historic Use: Residence

Current Use: Residence

Relationship to Surroundings

This colonial saltbox

Saltbox

A saltbox is a building with a long, pitched roof that slopes down to the back, generally a wooden frame house. A saltbox has just one story in the back and two stories in the front...

 house is sited on a large lot at the rural western edge of Middletown. Screened from the front by bushes, trees, and a stone wall, and on the east by a cedar paling fence, the house is very secluded. A two-story gambrel-roofed wing on the west, a two car garage on the north, and a large nineteenth century barn south of the house complete the estate.

Significance

This house was the home of Nehemiah Hubbard, prominent banker and merchant of late eighteenth century Middletown. The land, part of an original 226 acre (0.91459036 km²) tract, belonged to the Hubbard family, noted early settlers of the town, for a number of generations. Nehemiah was in the fourth generation of Middletown Hubbards. Although the house was some distance from the commercial section of Middletown, Hubbard used the property as a home and for extensive farming operations. Nehemiah Hubbard was Deputy Quartermaster for Middletown during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, and was the first President of the Middletown Bank. The house remained in the Hubbard family through the nineteenth century. Early in the 20th century, it was the home of Thomas McDonough Russell, Sr.

This 1744 center-chimney saltbox retains most of its early features, both interior and exterior. The main fireplace with its beehive oven measures over eight feet wide. Much early hardware remains. The two-story gambrel-roofed "kitchen wing" is added, but is sympathetic in style with the original house. The house underwent restoration in 1929 by the Colonel Wadsworth family.