Ebenezer Chandler Colton built a house around 1790 on Longmeadow Avenue in Longmeadow. The home’s original center chimney was later removed and around 1848, the house was converted to a two-family home. In 1855, the house was moved to its current location along the Avenue by James Coomes, who again made it a single-family home.
Israel Gates was a blacksmith in Longmeadow who, from around 1830 into the 1860s, lived in a house along the Town Green. Gates played a bass viol, which is now on display in the nearby Storrs House. According to local tradition, the Gates House began as a millinery on the green, which was moved to its current location, being joined to a much earlier home, occupied in 1805 by John Gaylord, which is now the east wing of the house.
The Daniel Colton House, on Longmeadow Green, was built in 1829 and is a gable-front/sidehall plan house, a layout which first appears in Longmeadow in the 1820s. To the left of the main entrance are various later additions and an older section, which originally housed the shop of Daniel Colton, who was a joiner.
The Nathaniel Ely House (called “New” to distinguish it from the earlier “Old” Nathaniel Ely House nearby) was built in 1856 off Longmeadow Green. The Thomas Bliss House originally stood where the Ely House was later conbstructed, but was moved across the street to make way for the new structure. The Ely House has elements from a variety of architectural styles, including the Federal, Italianate and Gothic styles–truly a Victorian Eclectic building!