New Hartford, Connecticut $895,000

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New Hartford, Connecticut $895,000

MLS: L127590
Style: Victorian
Asking: $895,000
Year Built: 1866
Square Footage: 4,657
Acres: 2.0
Rooms: 11
Living Room 26x19
Dining Room 25x17
Kitchen 17x17
Family Room 18x18
Master Bedroom 33x15
Bedroom2 16x15
Bedroom3 15x13
Bedroom4 18x16
2.5 total bath(s)
Fireplace: 7
Garage: Barn/ Garage
Heat / Fuel: Oil and Coal
Pool: Yes-heated


The Philip Chapin House

The Philip Chapin House is located on a spacious lot facing the small shaded green of the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford. Next to it are two country Gothic buildings, a church and a residence, and across the green are other 19th­century buildings. Because of the visual continuity and common associations with the Chapin family, the center of the village is now a historic district. The Chapin House was nominated and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 because its size, setting, architectural significance and well-preserved state which makes it the most outstanding house on the green.

· 14 room, 3 storied Victorian house listed on the National Register & located in local historic district

· House design-Northern Italian Renaissance, all architectural features original

· Built in 1867 for Philip Chapin, President of the Chapin Plane & Rule Company

· 1.9 acres of land

· Expansive lawns surround house, overlooking historic town green

· Slate and metal roofs with copper gutters

· Massive 10 foot square Belvadere / observatory on top of home

· Black Walnut main entrance doors from front rap-a-round veranda

· 2 & 1/2 Baths(tile), 5 Bedrooms, Dining room, Kitchen, Parlor, Ballroom, Music room, Study, office (2), billiard room, work shop

· 4,800 sq. ft of living area plus 1,680 sq. ft. of unfinished attic – total 6,480 sq. ft.

· Large period kitchen restored with walk in pantry, wood burning fireplace, ash wood floor, encased refrigerator & micro and leaded glass period lighting

· One bathroom restored with Victorian motif, marble sink, enclosed shower, two-person whirlpool tub & French bidet. Second full bath with pull chain toilet, marble sink and original tin tub & hidden shower.

· Marble sinks in 4 bedrooms & 1 mud room hall in modern working condition

·Study with original built in walnut desk & bookcase, hidden room behind study

·Workshop with electrical welder connection & power tool set up

·Full under house dry basement with brick floor, full 3rd floor attic above house

·Wine cellar with brick floor, 55 degree temperature, racks for a 1000 bottles

·7 working fireplaces, wood & coal fired, 2 with white carved Italian marble

·10 foot Gold Leaf Pier mirror with valences & marble pedestal in Ballroom

·Windows in main house have walnut or gold leaf window valences

·Laundry room with washer / dryer / drain sink upstairs near bedrooms

·Window height above kitchen sink only structural change to house

·12 foot high ceilings first floor, 10 foot second floor

·Original grand winding black walnut staircase from first floor to attic

·80% of house has wall & roof insulation

·80% of house with storm windows

·Ten antique gas chandeliers wired for 120 volt lighting

·Plaster in house has been repaired as needed & painted

·200 amp. circuit breaker electric box

·All house with BX or Romex type wiring

·Weil McClain oil fired steam boiler (1994) & 2 oil tanks

New Stainless Steel flue liner installed in furnace chimney

·Back up 40 gallon electric hot water heater

· HB Smith back up coal fired steam boiler, shaker grate

·1" copper water line installed from street for city water

·Properly maintained 1000 gallon septic system

·Copper piping through out house

·Hardwired burglar/fire/smoke alarm system, connected to alarm company

·House painted in 2000 with 7 different Victorian colors

·16 X 32 foot in ground pool with 325,000 BTU gas heater enclosed in miniature replica of the carriage house

·Pool lighting with dimmer controlled Victorian street lights

·Blue stone patio with wrought iron fence

·Change room attached building (former privy) for pool with phone, refrigerator, bar & storage

·100 year old maple trees surrounding house - trimmed & cabled as needed. Extensive rhododendrons on side and back of property

·Separate 32'x 32' Carriage House/Barn restored with new foundations, floor, supports, roof in 1990, painted in 2003 with 3 house matching Victorian colors

·Eight rooms in house plus barn wired for telephone/computer connection

·Five rooms wired for TV connection

·Central stereo system with speakers to patio and assorted rooms

*Unbuildable forested / mountainous area behind property

·Lighted half basketball court behind carriage house

·Good local cellular phone service with new tower in area

·Local TV cable connection wired into house

·Property zoned for small business

·New upscale shopping area nearby in Canton

·World class blue ribbon fly fishing on Farmington River very near house

·Ski slope, bike trails, canoeing, & other water sport activities minutes away

·New York City & Boston, a 2 hour drive

·Substantial Victorian period furniture, antiques & clocks available with house

The building is very well-preserved, and is almost entirely in its original state. The present owners are only the third owners since the house was constructed in 1867. The well-kept grounds, as well as the nearby green, lend the house an appropriately spacious setting. The combination of style, setting, preservation, and high visibility make the Chapin House an exceptional architectural resource.

For More Information and Photos, please go



The Philip Chapin House, a 14 room, 3 storied Victorian house listed on the National Register & located in local historic district. The House design is Northern Italian Renaissance, all architectural features are original.

It was built in 1867 for Philip Chapin, President of the Chapin Plane & Rule Company. The 1.9 acres of land has expansive lawns surround house, overlooking the historic town green. The many architectural details include: slate and metal roofs with copper gutters, a massive 10 foot square Belvedere /observatory on top of home, Black Walnut main entrance doors from front rap-a-round veranda, 2 & 1/2 Baths(tile), 5 Bedrooms, Dining room, Kitchen, Parlor, Ballroom, Music room, Study, office (2), billiard room, work shop, 4,800 sq. ft of living area plus 1,680 sq. ft. of unfinished attic – total 6,480 sq. ft.

The large period kitchen is restored with walk in pantry, wood burning fireplace, ash wood floor, encased refrigerator & micro and leaded glass period lighting. One bathroom restored with Victorian motif, marble sink, enclosed shower, two-person whirlpool tub & French bidet. Second full bath with pull chain toilet, marble sink and original tin tub & hidden shower. Marble sinks in 4 bedrooms & 1 mud room hall in modern working condition

The study has an original built in walnut desk & bookcase with a hidden room behind study. The workshop has an electrical welder connection & power tool set up. A full under house dry basement with brick floor, complete with a wine cellar with brick floor, 55 degree temperature, racks for a 1000 bottles.

The house has 7 working fireplaces, wood & coal fired, 2 with white carved Italian marble. A 10 foot Gold Leaf Pier mirror with valences & marble pedestal is in the Ballroom. The windows in main house have walnut or gold leaf window valences. Window height above kitchen sink is the only structural change to house. Ten antique gas chandeliers wired for 120 volt lighting. The plaster in house has been repaired as needed & painted, the house was painted in 2000 with 7 different Victorian colors.

The Philip Chapin House is located on a spacious lot facing the small shaded green of the Pine Meadow section of New Hartford. Next to it are two country Gothic buildings, a church and a residence, and across the green are other 19thcentury buildings. Because of the visual continuity and common associations with the Chapin family, the center of the village is now a historic district. The Chapin House was nominated and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 because its size, setting, architectural significance and well-preserved state which makes it the most outstanding house on the green.

The house is an example of the north Italian Renaissance style; its main mass is in the form of a cube, two full stories tall with a low third story. The deck-on-hipped roof is surmounted by a square belvedere, and on three sides has an open loggia. In the rear is a hipped-roof, L-shaped wing, containing a rear entrance, service rooms and servants' quarters. Although it is two stories high, its floor levels are a few steps below those of the main house. There are two original outbuildings: a small privy (now part of the rear patio/pool area) and a two-story carriage house. Although devoid of ornament, both resemble the main house in form: cube-like with a flattish hipped roof. The latter is distinguished by a pointed segmental arch bay on two sides and a similar loft opening.

The main facade of the house is three bays wide; the central bay containing the entrance, which is projected forward slightly and topped off by a pediment which merges with the main roof. On each side of the pavilion is a closely set pair of windows at each story. The side elevations are similarly composed of nine pairs of windows. The whole exterior is clapboarded, except for the belvedere, the central bay and the third story, which are flush-sided. The roof is covered with brown, red and gray fish-scale slate shingles.

The exterior is richly executed, particularly in the use of paneling to create textural effects, the repetition in different scales of cornice brackets and carvings, and interesting combinations of shapes and different types of arches into single elements. The main entrance features double rectangular doors of black walnut; they have round-headed panels and in the center, large circular bosses. These and a transom are formed into a single round-arched opening by a band of carving; the whole is then enclosed as a rectangle by a series of moldings. The first story windows are tall and narrow, grouped into pairs, and are also surrounded by a set of moldings, with recessed panels filling in the space between the sills and the floor of the veranda. The flat-roof veranda is supported by square columns with arched-paneled bases and flared capitals; it has steps for the main entrance and at the southwest corner. The second-story windows are also paired and narrow, but have the shape of a segmental arch at the top. Above each pair is a raised panel which forms a single curve above the two segments. The effect is completed by a hoodmold which follows the same shape but rests on consoles located at the level of the top of the panel. The third story is set off by a series of moldings and its flush siding; its windows are shorter, smaller, round-headed, and have simple molded frames. The window treatment in the central pavilion is somewhat different: on the second story is a single round-arched opening surrounded by paneling and a rectangular band of molding. It is surmounted by a straight cornice. Beneath the pediment is a smaller opening with a round-arched architrave whose keystone and supporting consoles have a pierced design. The belvedere has two windows, like those on the third story, on each side; recessed panels between the openings and in the corners make the transition between the arches and the basic rectangular shape of the belvedere. On each side of its roof is a projection similar to the second story hoodmolds. The jutting main cornice is supported by finely shaped brackets with pendent drops; it consists of a set of moldings and a band of ring-and-ball carving. This design, complete with brackets, is continued along the pediment, and is repeated in the cornices of the veranda, the second-story pavilion window, and the belvedere. The ring-and-ball carving is also repeated in the second-story window caps.

The interior is equally elegant. The house is laid out on the central hall plan, with a large ballroom on one side and a smaller music room on the other side. The dining room is behind the ballroom with a parlor on the opposite side. On the second floor are corresponding chambers, and on the third floor is an open space which is used as a billiard room. The front rooms feature very wide arched openings, gilded cornices and original brass gas fixtures. There are six coal and one wood burning fireplaces in the house: of Italian marble, they have round arched openings, carved consoles and complex-curved mantles. Although the original decor is no longer in the house, similar period furnishings decorate the interior (another Chapin house had an interior by Tiffany). All of the original built-in furnishings remain to suggest its opulence. Each of the bed chambers has a small marble sink in the corner, one with sterling silver faucets, and one full bath has a mahogany encased copper tub.

The Philip Chapin House is an excellent example of Victorian domestic architecture. Built in 1867 for a member of Pine Meadow's leading factory-owning family, the house reveals the degree of refinement which a person in such a position could provide for himself. Like comparable houses of the period, the Chapin House is large, spacious, and almost over-scaled. In style, the house is a northern Italian Renaissance villa: the 2 1/2 story cubic form, the symmetrical elevations, the belvedere, the central pavilion, the projecting cornice, and the round-arched windows are typical elements of this style. It is in the richness of ornamentation, however, that the Chapin House excels. Everywhere one finds examples of elaboration and decoration which could have been left plain had the builder a lesser commitment to detail. At the same time, the effect is not overly busy: many interesting points, such as the repetition of the ball and ring turning in the window caps, veranda and main cornices, or the use of scaled down brackets as pediment medallions (somewhat disconcerting), can be appreciated only at close range. Other outstanding or interesting features include the front doors, the polychrome slate, the interesting geometry in the second-story window treatment, and the interior details - fireplaces, woodwork and built-ins.

The house has local significance because the Chapins were one of the foremost Pine Meadow families in the 19th century. Hermon Chapin started a factory in 1828 which made planes and machine-stamped rules. This prospered and was one of New Hartford's largest firms. Chapin and his sons built several large houses in the Pine Meadow section, as well as donating land for the green and adjacent church.

The building is very well-preserved, and is almost entirely in its original state. The present owners are only the third owners since the house was constructed in 1867. The well-kept grounds, as well as the nearby green, lend the house an appropriately spacious setting. The combination of style, setting, preservation, and high visibility make the Chapin House an exceptional architectural resource.


Ballroom
Fireplace with white marble vanity, 10 foot high gold leaf pier mirror and hardwood floors.
Music Room


Study
Original built in walnut desk & bookcase with a hidden room behind study, hardwood floors.
Belvedere/observatory


Dining Room
Formal dining room with fireplace
Kitchen
The large period kitchen is restored with a walk in pantry, wood burning fireplace, ash wood floor, encased refrigerator & micro and leaded glass period lighting.

Master Bedroom

Pool Changing House and Pool
Heated in ground pool surrounded by a blue stone patio.

Gardens
Level lawn and lovely landscaped gardens
Workshop


Half Basketball Court
Half sized basketball court, lighted for night time play
Wine Cellar
Wine cellar with space for 1000 bottles, brick floor, consistent 55 degrees.