Jedidiah Dudley House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Jedidiah Dudley House
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | Springbrook Rd., Old Saybrook, Connecticut |
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| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | c.1750 |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004339 |
| Added to NRHP | April 12, 1982 |
The Jedidiah Dudley House is a really old and important house in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It's also sometimes called the John Whittlesey Jr. House. This historic home was built a long time ago, in the mid-1700s. It's a great example of how houses were built back then. The house is also special because it belonged to a family who operated a ferry on the nearby Connecticut River. Because of its history, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
About the House
The Jedidiah Dudley House is located on Springbrook Road in Old Saybrook. You can find it just east of Exit 68 from Interstate 95. It's a one-and-a-half story house made of wood. It has a steep, pointy roof and a chimney right in the middle. The outside is covered with wooden boards called clapboards. The bottom part of the house, its foundation, is made from rough fieldstones.
The front of the house has five window openings, with the main door in the middle. Inside, you can see clues that some parts of the house were built using wood from older buildings. It also has original fireplace decorations from the Federal period, which was a style popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
A Family and Their Ferry
This house is one of several homes belonging to the Dudley and Whittlesey families. These houses were all built near a ferry landing in Old Saybrook. Back in 1662, John Whittlesey and his brother-in-law, William Dudley, were given permission to run a ferry. This ferry crossed the Connecticut River, connecting Old Saybrook with Lyme. It was a very important crossing for people traveling along the coast.
The Jedidiah Dudley House was likely built around 1750. It stands on land that was originally given to the ferry operators. Jedidiah Dudley, who ran the ferry, probably built this house. He faced some financial difficulties related to his work with the ferry. Because of these problems, Jedidiah Dudley lost both his ferry business and his house.
The house has not changed much over the years. The only big additions were a bathroom and a small extension added to the back right side of the house.
