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.. 1ST ·6 "'EW S 77 To-n No I Sil" No 7 4STATE OF CONNECTICUT

UH1 . I I I I I ICONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSIONI , ;

59 SOUTH PROSPECT STREET. HARTFORD. CONNECTICUT 06106 QUAD I(203) 566-3005

DISTR'C T \'V NR SPEC'VY

Os DNR o Actual 0 Potentiall. BUILDING N"ME (Commoa1 t HistoriC J

I Ford, Omr i C. , House2 TOW'" CITV I VILLAGE I COU'" Y

Z Farmington Unionville Hartford0i= 1 STREET AND NUMBER 'on<1 !Jr t oces von t-e 1761 Farmingtonu Avenue-Ii. • OWNERISI

~--_._-~~-- ._--~.i= Hinckley, Melissa & Steadmen, Donald DPublie Ii]P,i¥ateZW0 S USE (Pf~.'''"/1 (III 0,;' "' '" I- I ResidenceResidence

6ACCESSIBILlT~1 EXTERIOR VISIBLE FROM PUBLC ROAD I lNTERIQA ACCESSI6LE I IF YES EXPLAI ...

TO PUBLIC: [X) hs 0No o Yu [])NO1 SYLE OF BUleo-lN(;" DATE OF CONST~UC rlON

Greek Revival 18448. M"TERIAL'SllIndical" use Of '''C.llon "," .. n appfOp'Ur,.,

Ii]Clapboard 0 Asbestos Siding oB,ie"o Other

( Sp"cifyl

o Wood Shingle o Asphalt Siding o Fi"ldslon"

o Board & Batten o Stucco o Cobbl"ston"o Aluminum o Cane,,,t,, [Xl Cut slon"Siding Type: Typ,,: hzosznsncne foundatiOn

9 STRUCTUR"\. SYS7EM

{i] Wood frame (i] Po sl and beam o balloon o Other (Specify)

o Load bearing ma'sonry o SI,uetu,al iron or steel

10 ROOF Ir.., •• ,[!] Goble o Flat o Monso,d o Monitor o sawtooth

o Gamb'el o Shed OHiP o RoundDOth'"

Z ' Sp~c,fy)0i= IMa'~"aflILii o Wood Shingl" 0 Roll 0 OSloI"U Asphalt Tin'"W Olh"r0 OC Asphalt shingl" o Built up OTil" O'Sp~c,fyl

II NUMBER OF STORIE!> I APPROXIMATE DIME"'SIO"'S

l~ 27 X 33II CONDITIO ... ,S"". t ur,«]» ,1-:,"""'" Jo EI<cellent (!} Good o Fai, o D"te,io,at"d I 0 Exc e llent KJ Good o Foi, o D"t",io,ot"d13 I ... TEGRITY ·L·" .•11 .. n , I w .. E ... ·' 1'&J"y'~'~""DNo 1 'v YES EXPLAINl!J O.n original 0 additions to west and south elevationss.te Ma¥edI. lit-LA rEO OUTBUILDI"'GS OR LANDSC"PE rE"TURES

;:] Ba,n [!) Sh"d o Go'ag" o Oth", lon d s cop e I"olu'", 0' building, •Sp"c .Iyl

o Carriage o Shop o Ga,d"nhaus"1S SURROU ...DI ...G E ...VIRO ...MENT

:=J Op"n land o Wood· []J R.. ,id"nl,ol:l .

land L~ Scott~r"d buoldlng, ... ,bl" Irom "I'~_.

o CommerCialo Indu,· 0 XlI,ial Rural .. H'gh buold.ng d"n'''r

'6 lN1fRRfl.A1IONSHIP or dUll DING AND SUQROUNOIN(,S.-. -~_.-,------,._,- ----- ~- ---'---'-'--~---"-"----------'-------

One of the oldest dwellings standing in this portion of Unionville, the Omri C. Ford Housefaces north onto Farmington Avenue. The house is set on a Smflll rectangular lot which slopto the south towards the Farmington River. The surrounding ne ighbortlood contains pr imar ily

Queen Anne- and ltalianate-style dv.'ellings l'rected when Unionville was developing asan manufacturing center.

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The main block of this small Greek Revival-style cottage exhibits a three-bay facadecapped with a ridge-to-street gable roof. The small single-bay, shed-roofed elladded in the nineteenth century gives the first floor a four-bay appearance. A modest,full-length, open porch with square posts and lattice skirt spans the facade. GreekReVival-style embellishments include the flushboarded entablature with four-panedeyebrow windows set below the raking cornice. Two gable-roofed wall dormers providelight to the second floor and the gable ends feature slight cornice returns and rakingcornice. Note the six-over-six sash and central brick chimney. A large 13' x 27'ell extends from the rear elevation.

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UILDER

19 HINC E

In September of 1844, Virgil C. Goodwin sold Omri C. Ford a half-acre piece of landfor $350 "with an unfinished dwelling house, which is to be completed according to acontract between parties" (FLR 48:528). There is little historical informationavailable concerning Ford, except that he later moved to Burlington, Connecticut.In April of 1851 he sold the house to Nelson Morey (FLR 52:357), who only owned theproperty for eight months before selling it to Philip Gaylord (FLR 52:357). Gaylordremained in the house for two years before moving to Burlington in 1853. In Marchof that same year he sold the house to Salmon ~Solomon) Gridley for $600 (FLR 52:594).A native of Burlington, Gridley was most likely engaged in farming. His wife, the formerMary W. Brown,was also born in Burlington. Upon Gridley's death in 1874, the house waswilled to his son Norman with the following stipulatLon that Norman shall payor causeto be paid to each of his surviving sisters a cash settlement i~ lie~ of their sharein the property (FLR 15:243). It appears that Norman failed to honor his father'srequest, for in October of 1882 his three sisters sold their interest in the "oldhomestead of the late Salmon Gridley" to Romeo Elton of Burlington (FLR 65:647).It is unclear how Elton received Norman's \ interest in the property, but in 1885he sold the house to his daughter Helen E. Ripley, wife of Dr. Edwin M. Ripley(FLR 68:197). The Ripleys, who resided at 1767 Farmington Avenue, owned the propertyuntil 1893 when they sold it to Franklin P. Thorpe (FLR 68:664). A native of New York,Thorpe (1855-1909) was the son of Harvey and Teffa (Ball) Thorpe. Employed as a track

Farmington Land Records; Farmington Probate Records; Farmington Vital Records; FarmingtonCemetery Inscriptions, W.P.A •• 1934; Avon Cemetery Inscriptions, W.P.A., 1934; 1853 E.M.Woodford Map; 1855 E.M. Woodford Map; 1869 Baker and Tilden Map; 1878 O.H. Bailey & Co. Map.

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Elizabeth R. Hart 8/85

CT

3, T~'H~EXts T6 BUILblNG 6H slTtQ Noo e knOW'l 0 HIgh_o)'s o o D e v e lop e r sVandall ..m OO,h e,

o Private o Deterioration o loninQ DE I(plonotion

DISTRICT: 5 NR: ACTUAL

POTENTIAL

ST ATE OF CONNECTICUT

CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION59 South Prospect Street. Hartford, Connecticut 06106HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FORMFor Buildings and Structures

FOR OFFiCe: UBI!! ONL Y

TOWN NO.: SITE NO.: 7!tUTM: 18/_/ __ /__ /_/ __ / _

QUAD:

CONTINUATION SHEETItem number 19 Date: 8/85--'-------

foreman by the railroad company, he was married to Ida M. Rossiter of Salisbury, Connecticut.In 1907 Thorpe sold the house to Lawrence Corry (FLR 77: 104) who five years later soldit back to Thorpe's widow, Ida M. Thorpe (FLR 77:444). The house remained in the familyuntil 1983. Relatively unaltered since its construction in 1844, the small Greek Revival-style farmhouse stands as an important link to Unionville's agricultural past.