Address: 30 Laurel Grove Road, Middletown, Connecticut
Style: Center-Chimney Colonial
Date of Construction: 1741
Materials: Clapboard and Brownstone Foundation with Wood shingle roof
Structural System: Wood frame and Post and Beam
Architect: Unknown
Builder: Unknown
Historic Use: Residence
Present Use: Residence
Contents
Relationship to surroundings
This center-chimney Colonial house faces west from the east side of Laurel Grove Road near the intersection of Wadsworth Street. It is set back behind a yard with a stone wall bordering the property near the road. Across the street is the Nehemiah Hubbard House (c. 1730). Laurel Grove Road is an unpaved lane with tall shading scattered residences.
Significance
This house originally stood on the Main Street of Durham, Connecticut near the site of the Durham Manufacturing Company. It was probably built around 1741 by Robert Smithson. In 1957 it was moved to its present site. It is remembered in Durham as the Harriet Cooper Lane House after a long-term former occupant.
This house displays the center-chimney, two-room deep plan typical of mid-18th-century hose construction. In its well-preserved condition it complements the Nehemiah Hubbard House across the street. Together these two houses make the entrance into Laurel Grove Road a pleasing streetscape reminiscent of the 18th century.
Current use
The house is still a residential home and is kept in good condition.