New Preston Hill Historic District

New Preston Hill Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Congregational Church known as "Old Stone Church"
Location:	New Preston Hill, Findley and Gunn Hill Rds., Washington, Connecticut
Coordinates:	41°40′28″N 73°22′17″W / 41.67444°N 73.37139°W / 41.67444; -73.37139Coordinates: 41°40′28″N 73°22′17″W / 41.67444°N 73.37139°W / 41.67444; -73.37139
Area:	210 acres (85 ha)
Architectural style:	Colonial, Italianate, Federal
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	85001931[1]
Added to NRHP:	August 26, 1985

The New Preston Hill Historic District is a 210-acre (85 ha) historic district in the town of Washington, in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1985.^[1]

The most salient element in the district is the "Old Stone Church" of the New Preston Congregational Church, a building that has no heat or electricity and is used by the church during the summer and for weddings. The church has another building, the "Village Church" that is used for the rest of the year, outside this district.^[2]

The NRHP nomination asserted:

Despite the heterogeneity of its component structures, the district, which has developed over two centuries, enjoys a cohesive sense of place from the rural setting, spaciousness and slow pace of development. Mostly 19th-century in character, it has 18th-century components and 20th-century buildings of similar scale and mass that in the aggregate constitute a historic, rural, Connecticut village.^[3]:5

The historic district is on a hill west of the village of New Preston and is included in the census designated place centered on New Preston. It includes ten land parcels: five facing on the New Preston Hill common, 4 on New Preston Hill Road, and one on Gunn Hill Road.^[3]

Former residence of Bill Blass, originally built as a tavern

There are 12 contributing buildings:^[3]

• Hill Congregational Church, which "dominates" the district; this was documented in drawings by the Historic American Buildings Survey (see accompanying photos #5 through #10))
• school (see photo #5, #11)
• parsonage (see photo #5, #11)
• Rev. Samuel Whittlesey House, from 1808 (see photo #13, #14)
• John Ferris House, from 1800
• Newton's Tavern, c. 1900, a Federal/Greek Revival building with 12 over 12 windows (meaning 12 panes in upper and lower sashes) (see photo #1 accompanying NRHP nomination)
• a tollhouse from the 18th century, which has lost exterior appearance as such (see accompanying photo #2)
• house on Parcel 25, Federal/Greek Revival, with fluted pilasters, above the road behind a stone wall. Property also has a barn^[3]:6 (see photo #3)
• house on Parcel 26 (see photo #4)
• house on Parcel 33 (see photo #12)
• house on Parcel 35 (see photo #15)
• horse barn on Parcel 35 (see photo #16)
• sheep barn on Parcel 35 (see photo #17)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ See
3. ^ ^{a b c d} David F. Ransom and John F. A. Herzan (January 29, 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: New Preston Hill Historic District". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/85001931.pdf.  and Accompanying 17 photos, from 1976 and 1984

External links

• Historic American Buildings Survey set of drawings for the Congregational church
• Report of the Historic District Study Commission, Town of Washington, Connecticut. 1975.