Whitman-Duffy House, West Hartford, Connecticut
It's Christmas in Connecticut at the Whitman-Duffy House! Can I just say, if you try to find Christmas pictures of the Whitman-Duffy house online, Google is convinced that what you really want is a list of Hallmark movies starring Patrick Duffy. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it did get me off track a little.
So, before I get distracted any further, here are the actual house images and I'll do my best to re-imagine them for Christmas.
The house was built in 1764 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's eligible for historic home tax credits.
Some of the original hardwood floors and millwork are still intact.
There are six fireplaces, so it stands to reason that one of them should look like this for Christmas:
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Going back through the foyer...
...leads us to this spacious great room in pine green:
...and cheery kitchen in berry red:
Wouldn't they be fun to decorate for Christmas? Something like this seems right on target:
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There's also a den and laundry room downstairs.
There are 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms in 3,409 square feet.
The attic picture is there to remind us to never overlook a decorating opportunity, especially at Christmas:
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It's number 9 on the map.
One of the others (number 26) belonged to his sister Sarah Whitman Hooker. She's famous for being asked to house-arrest two British officers during the Revolutionary War. Her home is now a museum and an interesting tour of it is here.
The Whitman-Duffy house was subsequently owned by Frederick (not Patrick) Duffy, who is also well-known because he introduced milking machines and grain silos to the area.
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It feels a little more suburban now than it did in its farm days.
It has a Gunite pool and pool house now, instead of a dairy barn.
I doubt John Whitman or Frederick Duffy anticipated an in-ground pool, but I bet they always knew they had the perfect Christmas house. The Old House Dreams listing is here.
