Franklin Johnson House facts for kids
The Franklin Johnson House is a special old building located at 153 South Main Street in Wallingford, Connecticut. It was built way back in 1866 and is a great example of a building style called Italianate architecture. This house is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Today, it's home to the American Silver Museum, where you can see beautiful silver items. You can usually visit the museum by making an appointment or on special days.
Quick facts for kids |
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Franklin Johnson House
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| Location | 153 S. Main St., Wallingford, Connecticut |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1866 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 98001420 |
| Added to NRHP | November 23, 1998 |
What is the Franklin Johnson House?
The Franklin Johnson House is in a neighborhood south of Wallingford's town center. It's a two-and-a-half story building. It's made of brick, but it's covered with a special concrete that looks like stone.
The roof is low and flat, and right in the middle, there's a cool square tower called a cupola. The edges of the roof have big, fancy carved decorations. The cupola also has these special Italianate designs. The original cupola was sadly lost during a big storm in 1938, but it was rebuilt to look just like the old one.
The front of the house has three main sections. The first floor has a porch with round columns. These columns are thinner at the top and have fancy grooves. Iron railings separate the columns. The windows are rectangular and have pink granite pieces above and below them. Behind the house, there's even an old outhouse built with similar materials!
History of the House
The house was built in 1866 for a man named Franklin Johnson. He was very active in buying and selling land in the area. For many years, the house was a family home.
Around 1980, it stopped being a home and was used as offices. Later, it became the home of the American Silver Museum. This house is a great example of Italianate architecture. This style was popular thanks to architects like Henry Austin from New Haven. Even though we don't know who specifically designed this house, it clearly shows off that beautiful style.
