On Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 7 p.m., learn about a historic West Hartford neighborhood with ties to one of America’s tycoons. The stretch of Farmington Avenue between West Hill Drive and Walbridge Road was known for many years as “Vanderbilt Hill.” Architectural Historian Mary M. Donohue will present an illustrated lecture on the neighborhood in preparation for the West Hartford House Tour that takes place in Vanderbilt Hill on Sunday, November 11.
Up until the late 1800s, West Hartford was a quiet farming community with more cows than people. That all changed in the beginning of the twentieth century as Hartford’s wealthy residents began to push westward across the city line. West Hartford’s east side was one of the first areas to see massive residential development. In the white-hot real estate market of the 1919, two glamorous high-end housing developments were born: West Hill Drive and Walbridge Road. Luxury homes on either a cul-de-sac or a gently curving road, these subdivisions feature the work of outstanding architects including Edward T. Hapgood, Cortland Luce, and William T. Marchant, and were home to the town’s most illustrious residents.
From 1900 throughout the roaring 1920s to the advent of the Great Depression, money was to be made in real estate. In West Hartford, the pattern was similar to most cities in the northeast and one that mirrored that of its neighbor to the east, the City of Hartford. Between the existing West Hartford east-west streets-Farmington Avenue, Boulevard, and Park Road-dozens of side streets and hundreds of small housing lots were platted. Typical speculative subdivisions were planned by entrepreneurial realtors and local businessmen. Real estate brokers, architects, and builders were joined by prominent businessmen who shared a set of planning, design, and promotional ideas that were used to sell the wide-open spaces of West Hartford. Decentralized and loosely coordinated, this business network promoted home ownership, financing and construction.
In 1920, the population of West Hartford was about 9,000, tripling by 1930 to almost 25,000. Over two dozen architects and many more builders contributed to the wide variety of house styles and types found in West Hartford’s early suburbs. Homeowners could use the services of a local architect, choose a design from a builder’s portfolio of stock designs, order prepared plans from a mail order design service or even order an entire house from the national mail-order giant Sears Roebuck. Fortunately, the Town of West Hartford has retained a majority of the building permits issued in the 20th century making it much easier for homeowners and historians to trace the original owner or builder plus the source of the design.
Award-winning architectural historian Mary Donohue will share the architecture, stories and secrets of Vanderbilt Hill (West Hill Drive and Walbridge Road). Ms. Donohue has more than 30 years’ experience as an historic preservationist, architectural historian, and author. She serves as the assistant publisher of Connecticut Explored, the state’s history magazine, and co-host of the magazine’s podcast Grating the Nutmeg. She has co-authored three award-winning publications including most recently A Life of the Land: Connecticut’s Jewish Farmers. In 2018 she guest curated New Haven Museum’s exhibition Road Trip! that won an Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations. She also served as the historical consultant for the Emmy-nominated 2018 documentary film Harvesting Stones: The Jewish Farmers of Eastern Connecticut.
“Vanderbilt Hill: Money, Maids & Mahogany” is perfect precursor to attending the 2018 West Hartford House Tour. Set in the neighborhood Ms. Donohue will describe in detail, this year’s tour will feature three private homes on West Hill Drive and three private homes on Walbridge Road. As a bonus, an apartment at The Packard, which Ms. Donohue describes as the crème de la crème of apartment buildings of West Hartford’s east side, will also be open exclusively for the West Hartford House Tour.
The lecture will be held at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at 7 p.m. This is event is free and open to the public. Reservations recommended at www.noahwebster.yapsody.com. Donations gratefully accepted.
The West Hartford House Tour will take place on Sunday, November 11, 2018, from 12 to 4 p.m., rain or shine. A reception will be held afterward at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Tickets for the West Hartford House Tour are $30 in advance ($25 for museum members) and $15 for the reception. For tickets and additional information visit www.noahwebster.yapsody.com or call (860) 521-5362.
The West Hartford House Tour is a fundraiser to benefit the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society. Silver sponsors are J.P. Carroll Construction and The Packard. Additional museum support comes from the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
