Historic Benedict houses

In Newtown, several family homes are listed on the National Historic Registry.

The Register describes Elam and Lydia’s move to Newtown:

Elam Benedict House, Colonial Federal, c. 1800, 214 Hattertown Rd., early 20th century barn/shed, early 20th cent. shed, 215 Hattertown Rd.19th cent. small barn.

“Elam Benedict, who was the first of his family to live here, bought the house next door
to Levi Taylor, a Colonial/Federal dating from about 1800 (Inventory #14; Photograph #5). He and his wife had 11 children, including Charles, who later owned the Greek Revival house south of the green between Hattertown and Castle Meadow roads (Inventory #18; Photograph #8). Another son, George, was a partner in his father’s hatshop that once was one of two on the Morgan property (Inventory #2) His nephew, Gad Benedict, probably the first of the family to build in Hattertown, hired Isaac Patchen to construct his Colonial/Federal at the head of the district (Inventory #10; Photograph #3). Another son, Ralph, elected to become a blacksmith with a forge and shop next to his house (Inventory #s 5, 8; Photograph #9). After his death the shop was moved to the rear of the property near the existing privy (Inventory #9).”

“Fanlights are displayed on the gables of the Elam Benedict House at the foot of the green (Inventory #14; Photograph #5). Its more elaborately detailed doorway has paired slim pilasters separated by five-pane sidelights. The unconventional location of the four-pane transom within its frieze suggests that the surround may be a remodeling of an earlier colonial doorway.”

Charles Benedict House, Greek Revival c.1840, 219 Hattertown Rd., late nineteenth century barn, early twentieth cent. shed, c. 1950 garage with attached coop, privy (now associated pool structure).

“The Charles Benedict House to the south, set well back from Hattertown Road with two
small ponds in the frontyard, is a simpler version of the Greek Revival (Inventory #18;
Photograph #8). The doorway, flanked by pilasters and sidelights, is its major style
feature. The rectangular window in the north gable has three small panes instead of the
more common multipaned type; the one on the other end has been replaced by a full-size window surmounted by a fanlight. The barn to the north, also shown in the photograph (Inventory #19), is a late nineteenth-century type, resembling others here in its fenestration pattern and detailing, especially the one associated with the Taylor House farther down the road (Inventory #24). They both have vertical board siding, with a sawtooth pattern at the overlapping base of the gable, and trim boards over the windows have a slight pediment.”

Ralph Benedict House: 62 Castle Meadow Road c.1840 mid 19th century barn, poolhouse c. 1995, 19th cent. shed (former blacksmith shop), privy also at 101 Castle Meadow Rd. is a vacant lot

“The last of these district house types influenced by the Greek Revival is the Ralph

Benedict House on Castle Meadow Road (Inventory #5; Photograph #9). Except for its Greek Revival doorway, it resembles the earlier Federal-style Benedict houses. Changes made in the present remodeling (still in process) include the addition of a large two-story rear ell. Rectangular three-pane windows in the gable ends, which have cornice returns
instead of a full pediment, have been replaced with double-hung windows capped by
fanlights that extend into the joining of the rakeboards at the peak. The barn to the
south, which is markedly different from others in the district, may be contemporaneous
with the house (Inventory #6). Built into a slope, it has the features of a bank barn
with the main doors on the long north side to what would have been the threshing floor at
the second level. The gable end facing the road has a shed-roofed extension with plain
garage doors. The Benedict blacksmith shop that once stood north of the house next to the road has been moved to the rear of the property, also the location of a privy, which has a plastered interior (Inventory #s 8, 9).”

Gad Benedict House, 208 Hattertown Rd., c. 1820, garage c. 1960, 19th cent. shed converted to guesthouse c.1960

“The majority of the nineteenth-century houses in the district have retained the ridge-to-
street orientation, central chimney, and two-story rectangular five-bay form of the
standard late colonial house. In fact, so many resemble the Colonial/Federal Gad 
Benedict House that was constructed by carpenter/builder Isaac Patchen, it is generally held that he was the village’s primary builder (Inventory #10; Photograph #3). 2 Set well back from the corner of Hattertown and Hi Barlow roads, this house has a late
Federal doorway with attenuated pilasters and a relatively high entablature, but like
several other houses in the district, it displays rectangular gable windows that have a
multipaned pattern, a feature more commonly associated with the later Greek Revival. The main block utilizes six-over-six sash, the common pattern in the district.A similar doorway surround with a narrower frieze is found on the nearly identical William Taylor House at the foot of the district, also on Hattertown Road (Inventory 23;Photograph #4).