Address: 17 Church St
Inventory Num: 57
Location: East side Route 85, 0.1 Mi South of Rte 66
Year Built: 1815
Builder: John Graves
Style: Federal/ Greek Revival
Current Use: Residence
(District)
1993
Notable Architectural Features:
- Ashlar foundation
- Pedimented gable end to street, asymetrical facade
- 6/6 sash is greek Revival element
- Pediment has elliptical oculus in tympanum
- Modillion and tassel motifs are carried through rake boards and eaves
- Doorway treatment similar to others in immediate neighborhood (re: Horton e.g.) I.e. single door with leaded fan, portico with broken bed pediment, with modillions, and a wide frieze supported by fluted pilasters and Tuscan columns with pronounced entarsis. Capitals in proper proportion to the top of the columns, but not in proportion to the portico as a whole.
Importance:Clifford Wright stated that he thought the house was built in 1805. Had been previously told a date of 1797 when the house was purchased in 1978
(2008 homeowner)In the very early 19th century Amos Strong owned, sold and bought, considerable property in Hebron. (Among his holdings was a brick kiln behind what is now 192 Millstream Road. This kiln was the source of the bricks used to build the brick houses on Church Street and St. Peter's Church.) In 1811 Amos Strong and the two Cones, Zachariah and Gardner, signed an agreement regarding an acqueduct to provide running water to Strong's house, which very likely had just been huilt. Strong sold to August Post in 1818 and he sold to Abel Bissell in 1825. After several complicated transactions that same year, Oliver Phelps of Middletown secured a mortgage from Sam Kellogg and bought the property. By 1827 the mortgage was paid off. Horace Babcock bought the place in 1849 from the estate of Oliver Phelps. Babcock was a speculator who sold to William Wq.rland in 1856. Newel Brown became the owner in 1865 and in 1878 Jonathan Page bought it from Brown's estate. In 1900 Page sold to George H. Little, who sold it in 1904 to Elisha Lewis and he sold in 1920 to Grace Pendleton Lord. In 1925 Lord traded the property with Francis Waldo and took his property on Hope Valley Road. Waldo's daughter, Winifred Ellis, inherited the place in ,1937. She sold it
to Stanley Nygren in 1941, and he sold it to William and Adelaide Hammond in 1946. In 1974 the Hammonds' daughter, Martha Egan became the owener. She sold it to Paul Pomprowicz in 1978.
(2008 homeowner)This house is small but rather elaborate in its detail. The roof pitch is quite flat and its ends rather wide. The cornice is of delicate mouldings of the Greek Revival period. The porch is supported by two free standing columns of odd design, having a peculiar flare at the base. The front door is very elaborate and similar in some respects to that of the Governor Peters House, having fluted pilasters at either side of the door and a leaded fan, similar window just above it.
(WPA Architectural Survey - ca. 1935 - # 14)
Notes:"...home is red brick Federal style, with extension, two chimneys and front hall. A lovely home, distinguished by oval lights in the attic, fan light over the door, and side lights to give added illumination to the front hall. The entrance is capped by an arched New England Portico."
(from Hebron, Ct: Hebron Historical Society booklet prepared for America's Bicentennial) 
