Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden facts for kids
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Joseph Bellamy House
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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| Location | 9 Main Street North, Bethlehem, Connecticut |
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| Area | 104 acres (42 ha) |
| Built | 1760 |
| Architectural style | Colonial |
| Website | Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden |
| Part of | Bethlehem Green Historic District (ID82001001) |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004444 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | April 12, 1982 |
| Designated CP | December 16, 1982 |
The Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden, also known as the Joseph Bellamy House, is a special old house in Bethlehem, Connecticut. Today, it's a historic house museum, which means it's a house kept just as it was long ago so people can visit and learn about history.
This main house was built a long time ago, between 1754 and 1767, by a very important minister named Rev. Joseph Bellamy. He was a Congregationalist minister, which is a type of Christian church leader. Rev. Bellamy was a big part of a religious movement called the First Great Awakening.
In 1982, this property was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is a list of places in the United States that are important to history. The house and its beautiful gardens are now looked after by an organization called Connecticut Landmarks. You can visit and explore them! Next to the museum, there are also 81 acres of forest and fields called Bellamy Preserve. It's like a "Central Park" for the town of Bethlehem, managed by the Bethlehem Land Trust.
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About the Bellamy-Ferriday House
The Bellamy-Ferriday House is located just north of the village green in the center of Bethlehem. It has a large, pretty yard with trees that help keep it private. You can get to the house from Main Street North, which is also Connecticut Route 61.
The house itself is quite grand. It has a main part that is two-and-a-half stories tall, facing south. There's also a two-story section and a newer part added to the back. The main part of the house is shaped like a square. It has a roof that slopes down on two sides (called a gabled roof) with a chimney in the middle and small windows sticking out of the roof. The outside of the house is covered in wooden boards called clapboards. It also has special decorative blocks on the corners.
One interesting part of the house is a section that sticks out on the right side. It's two stories tall and has a fancy window on the second floor with three parts, called a Palladian window. Below that, there's a small porch with four tall, fluted columns.
History of the House and Its Owners
In 1738, Reverend Joseph Bellamy was given 104 acres of land. This land was on the north side of what is now Bethlehem village. Back then, it was known as the North Purchase of Woodbury. Bethlehem officially became a town in 1787. Rev. Bellamy was the first minister to settle in this area.
During the 1740s and 1750s, Rev. Bellamy became very famous. He was one of the most important religious thinkers during the First Great Awakening. People used to think that a smaller part of the house was built around 1754 on land Rev. Bellamy bought in 1741. They thought his family lived there while the main part of the house was being built. However, that smaller part doesn't seem to have had a big enough chimney for cooking and heating. So, it's more likely that the whole house was built and lived in around 1760.
Much later, a man named Henry Ferriday bought the property. His daughter, Carolyn Woolsey Ferriday, owned the house until she passed away in 1990. In her will, she decided that the house and some of the land around it should become a small museum. This museum was created by the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society, which is now known as Connecticut Landmarks.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum is filled with beautiful old furniture and items from both America and Europe. Outside, there's a formal garden with a special design called a parterre garden. This garden has a wonderful collection of roses, peonies, and lilacs. There's even a weeping willow tree on the property that is said to have come from a tree that once stood at the grave of Napoleon Bonaparte, a famous French leader!
Other Historic Places to Explore
If you enjoy visiting historic homes, Connecticut Landmarks also takes care of several other interesting house museums. These include:
- Amasa Day House in Moodus
- Butler-McCook House & Garden in Hartford
- Buttolph–Williams House in Wethersfield
- Hempsted Houses in New London
- Isham-Terry House in Hartford
- Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry
- Phelps-Hatheway House & Garden in Suffield
