Monte Cristo Cottage
National Historic Landmark

Monte Cristo Cottage

New London, New London County, Connecticut
Listed
July 16, 1971
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
71001010

About this property

Monte Cristo Cottage (also known as Eugene O'Neill Summer House) was the summer home of American actor James O'Neill and his family, notably his son Eugene O'Neill. It is a National Historic Landmark located at 325 Pequot Avenue in New London, Connecticut. James O'Neill came to New London, Connecticut in June 1884 and purchased two plots of land on Pequot Avenue for his wife Ella's 27th birthday. The property included a cottage built in the 1840s which he expanded. It is now a two-story house, three bays wide with a porch that wraps around the front to the north side. A tower with pyramidal roof stands just beyond the porch on the north side. It was the principal family residence during Eugene O'Neill's childhood. As a child, Eugene spent much of the year traveling with his actor father touring from city to city, but the family returned to this cottage each summer. It was named for the play in which his father starred in touring productions for many years. O'Neill probably wrote his first two plays here, and it is the setting of his plays Ah, Wilderness! and Long Day's Journey into Night, the latter posthumously winning him the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its association with O'Neill. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center purchased it in 1976 and operates it as a historic house museum, furnished to appear as it might have for the setting of Long Day's Journey into Night. The house also features exhibits about O'Neill's life and works, as well as artifacts and memorabilia, including the desk which he used to write his drama Anna Christie which won him the Pulitzer Prize. List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut Monte Cristo Cottage - official site at the O'Neill Theater

Location

325 Pequot Ave.
New London, New London County, Connecticut
41.33203, -72.09647

Categories

LITERATURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Pequot Colony Historic District
Listed
0.6 mi
Montauk Avenue Historic District
Listed
0.7 mi
Fort Trumbull
Early Republic
0.9 mi
Lighthouse Inn
Industrial
1.1 mi
New London Harbor Lighthouse
Industrial
1.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Monte Cristo Cottage listed on the National Register?

Monte Cristo Cottage was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1971.

What type of historic resource is Monte Cristo Cottage?

Monte Cristo Cottage is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Monte Cristo Cottage a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Monte Cristo Cottage has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Monte Cristo Cottage?

The period of significance for Monte Cristo Cottage is recorded as the industrial era.

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