The house at the end of North Meadow Street in Windsor, around 1935-1942. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
The house in 2017:
This house was built sometime before 1730, and it is situated right alongside the Farmington River. Like the neighboring Jonathan Alvord House, which was built later in the 18th century, it is built into the hillside along the river, with a high brick basement that has a full-size door and windows. The house originally belonged to Samuel Cross, who, according to the documentation done when the first photo was taken, operated a ferry across the river in the early 1700s.
By the time the first photo was taken, the house was already over 200 years old, but it remained in good condition. Since then, a porch has been added to the left side, and there is also an addition on the back side of the house, which is not visible from this angle. Otherwise, though, the house retains much of its original appearance, and it is part of the Palisado Avenue Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
The year the house was build has not been established yet. Cross bought the land in 1659 and when he made out his will in 1707, it referred to “the house he has been living in”. Was it built before the 1699 Return Strong house around the corner? Hmm…
I have a couple of pages of history on the house. I will post some info when I find it. We lived there for only a few years.
I would be interested in learning more. It is definitely an unusual house, especially with the high basement. Any idea if that was done with flooding concerns in mind?