Elias Sprague House

Elias Sprague House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Elias Sprague House, under renovation
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Location	2187 South St., Coventry, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°45′56″N 72°20′29″W
Area	4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built	1821 (1821)
Architectural style	Federal
NRHP reference No.	87001910[1]
Added to NRHP	November 2, 1987

The Elias Sprague House is a historic house at 2187 South Street in Coventry, Connecticut. Built in 1821, it is a well-preserved example of a vernacular early 19th-century Connecticut home. Now privately owned, the house for a time housed the local historical society. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.^[1]

Description and history

The Elias Sprague House is located in a rural setting in southwestern Coventry, on the south side of South Street a short way east of Nathan Hale State Forest. It is a 1+1⁄2-story wood frame Cape style house, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. Its main facade is five bays wide, with a center entrance. The interior follows a typical central chimney plan, with a narrow entrance vestibule, parlors on either side of the chimney, and the kitchen behind it. Original period features include wooden paneling and trim, and several doors with original strap hinges.^[2]

The house was built in 1821, and is a well-preserved example of vernacular country architecture of the period. It was owned during the early 20th century by George Dudley Seymour, a noted antiquarian. The house was later acquired from the town by the Coventry Historical Society, which restored the house in 1964-1965 and operated it as a historic house site.^[2]

In 2008, the historical society placed the house on the market, having outgrown its use as a meeting space, a move that elicited some controversy. The town had given it the property with the proviso that it operate it as a museum, and arguments were made that the historical society was therefore not permitted to sell it.^[3] The State Property Review Board unanimously approved the sale of the property for residential use in 2011. The restored and expanded property is now privately owned.^[4]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Tolland County, Connecticut

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Bruce Clouette; Matthew Roth; John Herzan (March 24, 1987). "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Elias Sprague House". National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos, exterior and interior, from 1987
3. "Ackert fights for Coventry Historical Society | Coventry Today". Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
4. "Connecticut Department of Administrative Services" (PDF).