Parmelee House (Killingworth, Connecticut)

The Parmelee House is a historic house at 4 Beckwith Road in Killingworth, Connecticut. It was built about 1770 for a member of one of the area's founding families, and is architecturally important as an example of a farm outbuilding converted to a residence during the 18th century. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.[1]

Parmelee House
Location4 Beckwith Rd., Killingworth, Connecticut
Coordinates41°23′3″N 72°35′13″W
Area6 acres (2.4 ha)
Builtc. 1770 (1770)
Architectural styleColonial
NRHP reference No.07000417[1]
Added to NRHPMay 15, 2007

Description and history

The Parmelee House is located in a rural setting of western Killingworth, facing west on the east side of Beckwith Road, a short way south of Connecticut Route 148. It is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, five bays wide, with a side gable roof and a central chimney. Because it is set in a hill, it only has a single story at the rear. Although it has a conventional colonial appearance, the house is architecturally distinctive for the period, with an atypical floor plan that is partly a consequence of using what would normally be the basement as a living space.[2]

The house was apparently built c. 1770 by Ezra Parmelee, descended from one of the area's first colonial settlers. The building's structure suggests that it may have been built originally as a three-bay bank barn; the fireplace styles are suggestive of post-Revolutionary War construction, indicating the conversion took place in the late 1780s. There is no mention of a house on the property in a sale recorded in 1770, but a house is present in 1787. The property remained in the hands of Parmelee descendants for most the years between then and 1928. The property also includes a c. 1880 barn.[2]


See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Jan Cunningham (December 9, 2006). "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Parmelee House". National Park Service. and Accompanying 12 photos, exterior and interior, from 2005 (see photo captions and maps pages 11-13 of text document)
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