Pomfret Street Historic District
Encyclopedia
Pomfret Street Historic District is a historic district
roughly along Pomfret Street (Route 169
), from Bradley Road to Woodstock Road in Pomfret
, Connecticut
, United States
.
The district "is a picturesque and unique exemplar of Connecticut's resort and country estate period. No other town in the state contains such an impressive and cohesive ensemble of stylish summer houses, the major contributors to a district that is further enhanced by the quality of its well-integrated institutional architecture and the exceptional integrity of its historic setting."
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1998. It includes 160 contributing buildings and two other sites, over a 380 acres (153.8 ha) area.
The district has an irregular shape. It is about two miles long.
Two private schools are in the district. The Rectory School was founded in 1925. Its main building is a former home, dating from 1792, of Col. Thomas Grosvenor (1744-1825), with a large addition & alterations by Thomas Skelton Harrison (1837-1919), designed by Guy King of Philadelphia. It includes other houses, including Brittain House c.1800, and Marion Harvey/Harrison Deal House, by Guy King of c.1900.
Pomfret School was founded in 1894 on the estate of Charles Grosvenor. It now includes brick Georgian and Colonial Revival buildings built during the first decade of the 20th century, designed by New York architect Ernest Flagg
. The Romanesque 1908 Clark Chapel of the school was also designed by him.
Architect Howard Hoppin (1854-1940) designed several buildings in the district, including guest houses for George Lothrop Bradley (1848-1906) on his estate called Rathelin: Hope Cottage, Harry Cottage, Howard Cottage, Lothrop Cottage, and alterations to Stilleben and Darius Cottages. Hoppin also designed the Joseph Washington Clark (1810-1892) house called La Plaisance in c.1888, Oberthal (later Southover) for Dr. Frederick Windle Chapin, a house for Joseph Clark's daughter, Mrs. Courtland Hoppin, now Robinson House, the school's admissions office. He also designed Christ Church, and its adjacent Rectory.
The Ben Grosvenor Inn grounds and outbuildings are in the district, but the Inn itself was demolished in 1960. Remaining buildings include Orchard Cottage and Olive Cottage, now used as dormitories by Pomfret School.
The Colman estate house dates from 1928.
Notable properties in the district include:
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
roughly along Pomfret Street (Route 169
Route 169 (Connecticut)
Route 169 is a state highway in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. It begins in the city of Norwich and runs through Northeastern Connecticut, continuing across the state line into Southbridge, Massachusetts. The route ends in Charlton after another nine miles...
), from Bradley Road to Woodstock Road in Pomfret
Pomfret, Connecticut
Pomfret is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,798 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The district "is a picturesque and unique exemplar of Connecticut's resort and country estate period. No other town in the state contains such an impressive and cohesive ensemble of stylish summer houses, the major contributors to a district that is further enhanced by the quality of its well-integrated institutional architecture and the exceptional integrity of its historic setting."
The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1998. It includes 160 contributing buildings and two other sites, over a 380 acres (153.8 ha) area.
The district has an irregular shape. It is about two miles long.
Two private schools are in the district. The Rectory School was founded in 1925. Its main building is a former home, dating from 1792, of Col. Thomas Grosvenor (1744-1825), with a large addition & alterations by Thomas Skelton Harrison (1837-1919), designed by Guy King of Philadelphia. It includes other houses, including Brittain House c.1800, and Marion Harvey/Harrison Deal House, by Guy King of c.1900.
Pomfret School was founded in 1894 on the estate of Charles Grosvenor. It now includes brick Georgian and Colonial Revival buildings built during the first decade of the 20th century, designed by New York architect Ernest Flagg
Ernest Flagg
Ernest Flagg was a noted American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility.-Biography:...
. The Romanesque 1908 Clark Chapel of the school was also designed by him.
Architect Howard Hoppin (1854-1940) designed several buildings in the district, including guest houses for George Lothrop Bradley (1848-1906) on his estate called Rathelin: Hope Cottage, Harry Cottage, Howard Cottage, Lothrop Cottage, and alterations to Stilleben and Darius Cottages. Hoppin also designed the Joseph Washington Clark (1810-1892) house called La Plaisance in c.1888, Oberthal (later Southover) for Dr. Frederick Windle Chapin, a house for Joseph Clark's daughter, Mrs. Courtland Hoppin, now Robinson House, the school's admissions office. He also designed Christ Church, and its adjacent Rectory.
The Ben Grosvenor Inn grounds and outbuildings are in the district, but the Inn itself was demolished in 1960. Remaining buildings include Orchard Cottage and Olive Cottage, now used as dormitories by Pomfret School.
The Colman estate house dates from 1928.
Notable properties in the district include:
- Most Holy Trinity Church, 1887, moved to its current location at Pomfret Street and Deerefield Road in 1973
- Pomfret School's Admission Building, Mrs. Courtland Hoppin, c.1888, moved north from its original site c.1899
- Pomfret School's Headmaster's House, built by Charles Grosvenor (1839-1922) as Eastover c.1896, as an Inn
- Pomfret School's Clark Chapel, Ernest Flagg 1907/8
- Thomas Hubbard House
- Grosvenor Inn Cottages, 29 and 33 Grosvenor Road
- Joseph W. Clark Estate House, La Plaisance, c.1888
- Coleman Estate House, 1928
- Christ Church Episcopal, 1881
- Bradley Estate's Hope Cottage, c.1882
- Bradley Estate's Howard Cottage, c.1882