Hempsted Houses

Hempsted Houses. Hempstead Historic Neighborhood. , Ten generations of Hempsteds lived on this property, beginning with Robert, one of the first English settlers of what became New London. Robert's son, Joshua, built the western half of the frame house in 1678. Joshua's grandson, Nathaniel, doubled the size of the house in 1728, transforming it from an end-chimney structure to a center-chimney Colonial., A diary was kept by Joshua 2nd from 1711 to his death in 1758. This, and the and the account books of his son John, provide an unexcelled record of daily life in colonial New London. The Joshua Hempsted House may be the best-documented house of its period in New England, and this information, supported by the long ownership of the family, proved vital when the house was restored in 1957., Robert's great-grandson, Nathaniel, built the stone house on the corner in a center-hall gambrel style. It was probably constructed by French-speaking Acadians from Nova Scotia, who were exiled in the 1750s., When the Joshua Hempsted house was built, it faced Bream Cove. Early generations of Hempsteds were farmers, with fields and orchards occupying most of the land north and east of the house. As the property was not near the waterfront docks and warehouses, it was spared when Benedict Arnold burned New London in 1781. In the 19th century, the Hempsted family sold some of its outlying land for homes and businesses, and in this way the old houses were gradually surrounded in an urban setting. The Hempsted Houses are now owned and operated by the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society as historic house museums., The former Saltonstall School across the street was built in a Second Renaissance Revival Style in 1903. It was a prosperous and confident time in New London, when municipal leaders were making a sustained drive to modernize school facilities., Joshua Hempsted's Diary ,

1728, August: Wednsd 7 Cloudy. I was at home all day. wee plowed a Turnip yard and got up a Stage foreside ye house… Saturday 10 fair. In the morn I went with Nathaniel to Borrow Mr Jeffry's Hand Screws at the ferry and yn[then] he and Stephen Raised the Roof of my House up at the foot even with Nathaniel's Roof. [This describes the process of adding on to the old Hempsted House, built by Joshua's father in 1678.], 1743-4, Jan. 27: In the morning wee broke thro the floor getting in a Log and I was most of ye Day Mending it. I put in a new piece by the hearth and Cut of[f] the Ends of 3 Planks. The first time it hath been mended in about sixty-five years. [This passage dates the Hempsted House to 1678.], 1749, Oct 16: [I was] at home Mending up Stone wall… the School boys having Rolled the Stones Down the Sidehill for Sport and I was obliged to draw them up again with oxen and carry Some up by hand.

, [Captions:] , This view of the house taken in the early 1900s shows how the exterior had been altered., The restoration work has returned both the interior and exterior to an approximation of its historic appearance.