The Cheshire Historical Society
Hitchcock Phillips House
43 Church Drive
Cheshire, Connecticut 06410 USA

Telephone: 203-272-2574

CHESHIRE THEN - The Hitchcock-Phillips House (1785)

Significance: The building is especially notable for the ornamentation of its windows and the remaining details of its front entry.

Architecture: Georgian. The building was constructed by Rufus Hitchcock, a leading citizen during Cheshire’s early history. The house features a traditional five-bay façade with central chimney, gable roof, small pane sash and clapboard exterior. The fluted pilasters flanking the entry door have molded capitals and dentil moldings. These beautifully crafted details are typical of the heavily proportioned Georgian Classical style of homes built for the wealthy at end of 18th century. Windows have12-over-12 sash and molded window caps with dentils. The second floor window form part of the bead molding of the main cornice which is also decorated with a dentil course. Three dormers with pediments were added in1925. A central brick chimney remains from the original construction.

History: Hitchcock - Phillips House (Cheshire Historical Society).The property was owned by Col. Rufus Hitchcock, a merchant, militia officer, and political leader. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, a justice of the peace, state representative for 12 years, and town clerk of Cheshire from 1792 until his death in 1831.

(above from The Final Report of the Historic District Study Committee, April 2004)

Rufus Hitchcock was a man of many hats, serving as a colonel in the militia as well as town clerk.

About 1820 his son, William Rufus Hitchcock, joined the family business and added a wing to the house to accommodate his family. In 1834 he moved to Waterbury, and his sister, Lucretia, wife of the Reverend Peter Clark, a naval chaplain, came home to live in the old house. The Clark's daughter married A.W. Phillips, an instructor at the Academy. Phillips soon became a full professor at Yale and eventually head of the Graduate School.

The Phillipses maintained the house as a summer residence until about 1907. Later Cheshire Academy purchased the house and remodelled it as a dormitory. The town bought the property from the Academy in 1972 and has since turned it over to the Cheshire Historical Society as a headquarters for their collections.

The house retains many of its original appointments, including the fine panelling in the downstairs rooms. The doors, with their bullseye lights, are also original. Before the Phillipses sold the house, they removed a unique overmantle painting of the town green and presented it to the library. It has now been reinstalled in the house and is a featured attraction of the Historical Society's holdings.

(above from The Landmarks of Old Cheshire, Cheshire Tercentennial Celebration 1694-1994)

Call 203-272-2574 or e-mail edwinkania@cox.net for more information.

Return to The Cheshire Historical Society Home Page