National Register of Historic Places

Sports Building

Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut
Listed
February 22, 1984
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
84001088

About this property

The Childs Sports Building is a historic private recreational sports facility on Windrow Road in Norfolk, Connecticut. Built in 1930, it is an architecturally distinctive stone building with medieval features, designed by Alfredo S.G. Taylor. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Childs Sports Building is located in a rural-residential setting south of the village center of Norfolk, on the north side of Windrow Road near its junction with Gamefield Road. This area is part of what was once a large country estate of the Childs family. The building is a 1+1⁄2-story masonry structure, built out of rough fieldstone and capped by a roof with clipped gables. It is roughly rectangular in plan, with a round turret rising at its northeast corner to a low-pitch conical roof. The interior and roof framing are done with massive timbers recycled from old barns, which were also the source of the rough planking on the interior walls. The ground floor offers indoor courts for playing squash, badminton, and fives, as well as men's and women's dressing rooms. The upper level has a trophy hall and a billiard room. The building was built in 1930 to a design by New York City architect Alfredo S.G. Taylor. Taylor spent many summers in Norfolk, and is credited with more than thirty commissions in the community. A number of them share the medieval features used in this building: the rough rustic stone and wood finishes, and heavy slate roof. Details of the building were published in American Architect and Building News after its construction. Taylor's work for the Childs family also included the Starling Childs Camp on Doolittle Lake, and the Tom Thumb House. National Register of Historic Places listings in Litchfield County, Connecticut

Location

Norfolk, Litchfield County, Connecticut
41.97285, -73.21986

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
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

Thumb, Tom, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Norfolk Downs Shelter
Industrial
0.6 mi
Gould House
Industrial
0.9 mi
Moss Hill
Industrial
1.1 mi
Mulville House
Industrial
1.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Sports Building listed on the National Register?

Sports Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 22, 1984.

What type of historic resource is Sports Building?

Sports Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Sports Building?

The period of significance for Sports Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Sports Building?

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