Avery Homestead
The Avery Homestead is a two-story Colonial-style home in Ledyard, Connecticut that was built circa 1696. Evidence suggests that the house may have begun as a single-story, one-room house and later expanded to a two-story, two-room house by 1726. The house underwent major additions and renovations by Theophilus Avery and later his grandson, Theophilus Avery. In the mid-1950s, Amos Avery began a decade-long restoration effort to return the house to its 18th-century appearance. The Avery Homestead is historically significant as a well-preserved example of an 18th-century farmhouse with fine craftsmanship. The home is also historically important because more than twelve generations of the Avery family have resided there over the course of three centuries. The Avery Homestead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Overview The Avery Homestead is located on the west side of Ledyard, Connecticut and faces south on Avery Hill Road. The house overlooks of stone-walled pasture land that extends south to Stoddards Wharf Road. The two-story house has a shed to the immediate east and a two-story barn to the southeast. Past the barn is a farm pond that is located in a small valley formed by Billings-Avery Brook. The brook extends west for a mile (about 1.6 km) before joining the Thames River. Design The Avery Homestead is a two-story Colonial-style house that is believed to have been originally constructed around 1696. The main block of the house is built in the double cube of the Georgian style. It is unknown if the house originally began as a one-room one-story house with the original structure having been on the current east-end of the main block. The expansion and alteration of houses in this way was common in Ledyard and tool markings and different fenestration patterns are supporting evidence for this theory. The strongest evidence is the pitsaw marks found on the chimney girts in the hall and parlor, exposed framing and sheathing has markings consistent with a water-powered up-and-down saw. It is certain that the house had achieved its two-story and two-room appearance by 1726 due to its parlor being used as a meeting room for church services. Further evidence in the construction of the fireplace flues which indicates that the main block of the house was completed prior to the American Revolution. Around 1780, the main house was extended by in the rear during a two-story addition that gives the house a slight saltbox appearance. This changes were made while under the ownership of Theophilus Avery. Around 1870, under the ownership Theophilus Avery's grandson, also Theophilus Avery, the original kitchen ell was removed from the building and became a separate building to the east of the house. The new and present ell that was constructed served as an open shed until 1965 when it was converted to a shop and office. The framing of the house is unusual because it has "longitudinal summer beams extending from the end girts to the chimney girts in both the hall and the parlor.