National Register of Historic Places

Witter House

Chaplin, Windham County, Connecticut
Listed
October 5, 1970
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
70000704

About this property

The Witter House is a historic house on Chaplin Street in Chaplin, Connecticut. Built in 1820–21, it is a high-quality and little-altered example of Federal period architecture executed in brick. It was home to the town's first town clerk, remaining in the Witter family until 1960. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. The Witter House is located in the roughly linear village of Chaplin, on the west side of Chaplin Street a short way south of its junction with Tower Hill Road. The 2+1⁄2-story brick structure is a late example of Georgian architecture. It is five bays wide, with paired chimneys at the ends of the hip roof. The centered entrance is flanked by arched sidelight windows and has a fanlight above. The fanlight detail is echoed by semi-elliptical fan louvers above each window. The roof has a monitor section at its center, an unusual feature not normally found in New England houses of the period. The interior retains many period features, including wide floorboards. There are seven fireplaces in the house, each with distinctively carved mantels. The two front parlors each feature a free-standing carved column. The house was built in 1820-21 and owned by three generations of medical doctors all named Oren Witter. It was sold out of the family in 1960 to another medical doctor, F. Brae Rafferty. The first Oren Witter also served as the first town clerk for Chaplin, after it was incorporated in 1822. National Register of Historic Places listings in Windham County, Connecticut

Location

Chaplin, Windham County, Connecticut
41.79648, -72.12898

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

Chaplin Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi
Church Farm
Industrial
3.6 mi
Natchaug Forest Lumber Shed
Industrial
3.8 mi
Mansfield Hollow Dam
Civil War
3.8 mi
Hampton Hill Historic District
Listed
3.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Witter House listed on the National Register?

Witter House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 5, 1970.

What type of historic resource is Witter House?

Witter House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Witter House?

The period of significance for Witter House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Witter House?

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