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Milford home tastefully combines the Federal and Greek Revival styles
By: Joseph Pronechen
Correspondent
In 1768, this house in Milford was one of the few that stood in the vast open farmland that stretched from the Calf Pen
Meadow area all the way to Morningside by Long Island Sound.
Over the years, as farms diminished and suburbs grew, a neighborhood of homes on city-sized lots.
The house's
profile changed too. A major addition that became the new front of the house sometimes between 1840 to 1860, combined Federal and Greek Revival style elements.
The Greek Revival style
is most noticeable in the front gable pediment, while Federal lines are accented by light gray corner posts and trim setting off the deep gray clapboards.
The six-panel sash windows
are features found in both styles.
The house has kept in closed touch with its origins even with the late 20th century bathroom updates and decorative brick wall in the kitchen.
Some walls in the house still have the original horsehair plaster.
Recently relined chimneys mean four of the fireplaces are working ones.
One of the is in the former
kitchen, which has been turned into today's family room. It now forms the rear portion of the house.
Above the fireplace lintel there are the original warming cupboards that
served the early owners so well. Today they may not hold food, but they're ready for other storage.
Below the simple wood mantle there's a beehive oven. The decoration on its
cast iron door dates it from a later era.
There are doors at either end of the fireplace wall. One now opens to a laundry room that maintains its own access to the outside and
has an adjacent walk-in storage closet.
The other door leads to a full bath with pine tongue-and-groove ceiling.
The family room has windows looking out onto a three-season
porch that borders the side yard and accesses it. The porch also acts as a mudroom and makes a handy route tot he brick patio.
The family room further recalls the colonial era in its
plank floor, low ceiling, and original side staircase that reached bedrooms above. It still serves the same purpose.
The 19th century staircase, with a shiny, wide handrail, hugs the wall in the front entry.
The front hall, which features random width hardwood flooring, travels straight to the kitchen.
In typical period layout fashion, the first room off it is the front
parlor. It has a high ceiling and original wide board yellow pine floor. Throughout this 19th century addition, the ceilings are noticeably higher and form a nice contrast tot he rest of the house.
The lines of the parlor's simple old mantle glide along to give the surround for the brick working fireplace a smoothly carved appearance.
The wallpaper, a formal stripe with
pin dots on an ivory background, helps the parlor maintain a period look. The same goes for some of the wavy glass in the 6-over-6 window.
The simple wainscoting found only under
the windows formed the original detailed extras.
In the kitchen a brick fireplace now serves a decorative purpose, as do the added beams on the ceiling.
More decoration has come
with the late 20th century half-inch brick wall treatment. Painted white, it sets off the flooring the changes to narrow strip hardwood in this kitchen.
Laminate
countertops in a neutral shade line work areas.
A pair of pantries add plenty of storage.
The walk-in pantry to the side is the size of a vestibule and comfortably contains the refrigerator nook too. It has an exterior doorway that once was a side entry to the yard. It can serve that purpose again.
Off the kitchen, the dining room brings together the old with some newer additions which keep the room in character.
One of these is the recently installed antique china
closet, and another is the side picture window with individual panes.
The original working fireplace, now with a brick hearth, is accompanied by its own warming cupboard.
Upstairs, the master bedroom features a cozy working fireplace. Safety glass doors in a decorative brass inset look right at home under the wood mantle and surround.
The beautifully
refinished wide board floor is made finely grained tulipwood.
This bedroom is directly above the front parlor, and the small room next to it was the original birthing, room.
Today it has become the upstairs bath featuring a walk-in-shower in cocoa-shaded tile, an oak vanity whose laminate top has molded edging, and a pine tongue and grove ceiling.
The
second bedroom off the landing can act as a convenient nursery. Even the wallpaper would appeal to a young child.
This house at 225 Pond Point Avenue in Milford is being offered at $269,900 by Erika Reti of Coldwell Banker Real
Estate, Broad Street at Green's End, Milford. For more information, call 203-878-7424
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