Heritage Trail Guide

Stop #8 - The Booth House (c. 1912) and Barns

The Booth House as it appeared in 1912. The original one room dwelling is located at the rear of the building with a door centered between the two windows. The house was restored by Russell and Barbara Hartz.

Within a short walking distance from the Stepney Schoolhouse traveling along Purdy Hill Road to One Old Newtown Road you will find the Booth House with two of a small number of remaining barns in Stepney.  The house and barns are owned and have been restored by Barbara and Russell Hartz.

According to the 1867 Beers Atlas this property was owned by H.  Hawley, a relative of Thomas Hawley, who’s circa 1755 saltbox home stands across the street from the Booth House.  The land on which the Booth House and barns were built probably belonged to the Hawley homestead.

Five acres were purchased from the Hawley homestead in the mid-1800s.  The original dwelling was built into the side of a hill and consisted of one room approximately sixteen by sixteen feet in area with a sleeping loft above and a basement with its own entrance below.  This separate entrance indicates that the basement was probably used for animals and earlier possibly as slave quarters.  The structure is of post and beam construction with floor joists made from tree logs.

David Booth would eventually purchase and farm the property.  The Booth family was common farmers raising chickens, a few diary cows and growing “truck” gardens.  A truck garden was planted to grow seasonal fruits and vegetables that would be “trucked” to market.

In 1907, the farm would be handed down to Carrie Booth, daughter of David Booth who married Nicholas Winblad, according to their son Edward Winblad.  In 1912, the one room house was expanded to the size of the home we see today.  Purdy Hill Road, tall fieldstone walls and the west branch of the Pequonnock River border the house and barns.

In 1984, Barbara and Russell Hartz purchased the property from Edward Winblad as a result of their search to find a restoration project and a barn to house Russell’s furniture restoration business.  Russell has been restoring historic properties for many years beginning in Ohio and later here in Monroe when a job opportunity for Barbara brought them to Connecticut.  The Booth House has been meticulously restored along with the barns containing a piece of Americana — billboard advertising.

If a barn stood on a main road or near a railroad, farmers could get a free paint job or earn extra cash by renting the sides of their barns for advertising.  “Farmers were frugal in those days, yet still needed to paint their barns to keep them up.  The merchants saw the sides of these barns as an opportunity to advertise their wares to the people traveling along Route 25.  They both got what they wanted — the farmers, a free paint job and the stores, almost free advertising,” Hartz said.  The barns billboard advertising was restored with the help of Christopher Naples, a Stratford fine arts restorer, and faux finishing painter Michael Dzujna of Shelton.  At one time travelers along Route 25 could see the sides of these barns; today trees and buildings now obscure the view.

Every farmer grew large amounts of hay to feed cattle and horses. After cutting and drying, the hay would be stored in barns like this one built in the late 1800s. The smaller of the two barns is the older barn and contained six stalls for dairy cows. The barns are painted red with white trim, traditional colors for barns based upon the fact that early barns were painted with red and white lead.

The cow barn sign reads: “Go To G-H-Bennet, Boots, Shoes & Rubbers, 367 Main Street, Bridgeport.” In 1892, the Bennett shoe store was in operation and advertised shoes for $2.75, with higher prices for heavy or cork soles.  Heavy rubber slip-ons to protect shoes, along with traveling trunks and rubber rain gear were sold at the store.

The sign on the hay barn reads; “Our Clothiers! Foster, Besse & Co., 317 Main Street, Bridgeport.” John E.  Foster of Bridgeport and Lyman W.  Besse of West Virginia opened a men’s and boy’s clothing store on Main Street, Bridgeport in 1877.  Foster’s uncle, John R. Foster, had started one of the first chain clothing stores in America in 1857.  The Bridgeport store relocated to 956 Main Street in 1902.  The 17,000-square-foot dry goods store would flourish, selling work and sports clothing, hats, pocketknives and other men’s apparel.

At the peak of its success, the Foster-Besse Company had 41 stores in cities from Maine to Missouri.  The store operated until 1948, when the last surviving son, Edward L.  Foster, died.

Russell Hartz is partial to old barns.  “These barns go by the wayside if you don’t use them.  They are an important part of our history and are vanishing rapidly across the country.” said Hartz.  And use the barns he did.  For years many pieces of furniture were given new life with Russell’s refinishing expertise in these barns.  “This farm would not appeal to the wealthy, this is a poor mans farm.  We wanted to restore a poor mans farm because they are every bit as important as plantation farms, for it’s the common or poor man who has been largely responsible for the building of America,” Hartz added.

The Booth House and farm today is well cared for, on a tour of the property you will find Barbara’s vegetable and flower garden bursting with the colors of zinnias, morning glories, sunflowers, and gladiolas along side zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, blueberries and asparagus.  Meadows that once were used for haying now are surrounded by mature varieties of evergreens.  Evergreen trees that were once decorated as Christmas trees and later planted along the perimeter of the property have grown to tall heights.  Native huckleberry, quince, crabapple, pear, primrose, trumpet vines and ring ferns along with a small marsh can be found throughout the property.  A rose garden planted by Carrie Booth Winblad still blooms in early summer.  The west branch of the Pequonnock River runs through the property and a small dam can still be seen that was built by Edward Winblad, to create a swimming hole in the early 1900s.

And then you encounter two magnificent trees, a sugar maple and a Norwegian spruce tree.  “Many people have said I should cut down this big old sugar maple tree, it’s probably worth more than the house.  If I laid a saw on it my wife would kill me!” said Hartz.  “These trees are here to stay as long as we are living or they fall down on their own.” Hartz added.

A piece of Americana — advertising billboards painted on the side of barns. Pictured is the completed restoration of two signs for apparel stores in Bridgeport, Connecticut that could be seen by travelers along Route 25.

Russell pointed out that farmers would plant evergreen trees on the North and West sides of their houses to serve as windbreaks from the cold winds and on the South and East sides plant deciduous trees for summer shade and in the winter, when the leaves were gone, the sun would help heat the house.  And that’s what was done at the Booth house.

Architecturally the Booth house is a two-story farmhouse sitting on a fieldstone foundation.  The chimney is located centrally along the ridgeline.  All windows are 6/6 double hung sashes with plain trim; the doorway is trimmed simply with the same molding.  A shed roof porch spans the façade and west side of the house.  Simple turned columns support the shed roof.  A balustrade, also with turned columns is located the length of the porch.  The house was originally sheathed in clapboard but today is covered with cedar shingles.  The original front door has been moved to a west side door location.  The interior beams are exposed and are pegged, post and beam construction.  A chicken coop located to the right of the house has been converted to a tool shed.

The two barns are typical of small barns found throughout Stepney during the nineteenth century.  The barns are sheathed with vertical siding.  The original window and door openings still remain.  Fieldstones found on the property are used for foundations.  The floor joists are made from tree logs and supported by hand hewed and pegged columns.  The original roofs were wood shakes and have been replaced with architectural grade asphalt shingles.

The Booth House and barns today are reminders of the Stepney farmer’s ingenuity with a unique approach to preservation by bartering advertising space for barn maintenance.  And thanks to Russell and Barbara Hartz for their desire to restore the house and keeping the barns in use.