Tag: Old Sturbridge Village

Solomon Richardson House (1748)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Sturbridge

The saltbox house in Old Sturbridge Village known as the Parsonage was built in the village of Podunk in the town of East Brookfield in 1748 by Thomas Bannister for the Richardson family. Called the Solomon Richardson House, it was moved to Old Sturbridge Village in 1940. Now known as the Parsonage (although it never served as a parsonage while it was a residence), it is now interpreted as a minister‘s home. In earlier years at the Village, it was painted red, but was recently repainted white to harmonize with the other Greek Revival era buildings on the Old Sturbridge Village Common.

Bixby House (1807)

by Dan//Houses, Sturbridge, Vernacular

The Bixby House was built around 1807 in the community of Barre Four Corners. It was constructed by Nathan Hemenway or by his father Daniel, both housewrights, for Nathan’s brother, Rufus Hemenway, a carpenter. The house was then extended on the east side after Rufus’s marriage in 1815. The next owner was wheelwright Alanson O. Green in 1824. The house and adjacent barn were then acquired by Emerson Bixby, a blacksmith, in 1826. Two new rooms were added to the original three-room house between 1838 and 1845. The house remained in the Bixby family until Bixby descendants gave it to Old Sturbridge Village, to where it was moved in 1986.

Stephen Fitch House (1737)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Sturbridge

Stephen Fitch built a house in Windham, Connecticut in 1737. The house was later expanded in two or three stages, when an extended ell was added to the rear. In 1939, the Fitch House was acquired by Old Sturbridge Village and moved to Sturbridge the following year to become the museum’s first exhibit building. Today, the house is furnished with reproductions that visitors can touch. It is presented as the home of a successful country printer.