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Photo, Print, Drawing Weir Farm, Weir House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT Weir Farm National Historical Park

View 24 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS CT-255-A  ]

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[ Data Pages from Survey HABS CT-255-A  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Weir Farm, Weir House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT

Other Title

  • Weir Farm National Historical Park

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Weir, Julian Alden
  • Platt, Charles Charles
  • McKim, Mead & White
  • Beers, Anthony
  • Beers, Lewis
  • Weir, Ella Baker
  • Weir, Caroline
  • Burlingham, Cora Weir Carlin
  • Young, Dorothy Weir
  • Young, Mahroni
  • Andrews, Sperry
  • Andrews, Doris
  • Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
  • Weir Farm National Historical Park, sponsor
  • Schara, Mark, project manager
  • De Sousa, Daniel, field team
  • Davidson, Paul, field team
  • McPartland, Mary, transmitter

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  houses
  • -  domestic life
  • -  artists
  • -  Greek Revival architectural elements
  • -  Colonial Revival architectural elements
  • -  Connecticut--Fairfield County--Wilton

Latitude / Longitude

  • 41.257565,-73.456633

Notes

  • -  Significance: The first mention of a "dwelling house" on the farm known today as Weir Farm occurs in a ca. 1779 deed. This house, which comprises the southeast portion of the current Weir House, was built of traditional heavy timber frame construction on a fieldstone foundation. With the footprint of an approximate 28' x 30' rectangle, the house was most likely in the form of a traditional Connecticut farmhouse, with three or four rooms on the first and second floors, surrounding a substantial central chimney with fireplaces and oven. In 1789, the farm was purchased by Anthony Beers, and it would remain in the Beers family until 1880. Beers died in 1820, and the farm was inherited by his son Lewis. About 1830, Lewis Beers remodeled the house in the then-popular Greek Revival style. Most notably, the main entrance on the east facade was transformed with Doric pilasters and a portico with two Doric columns. Likewise, over the course of the nineteenth century, several first-floor additions were constructed on the west (rear) side of the house. In 1882, the farm, then consisting of 150 acres, was acquired by the important American impressionist painter Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919) for $560 and a painting. Weir would eventually expand the property to well over 200 acres, while paying close attention to the layout of the landscape. Well-connected to the New York City art world, Weir notably hosted many of his artist friends for plein-air painting sessions, including John Twachtman, Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, and Albert Pinkham Ryder. During Weir's ownership the house underwent substantial transformation. In 1900, the house was essential doubled in size with a large addition to the west, designed by the noted New York architect Charles Adams Platt. Platt reoriented the house to the south, with a new main entrance and one-story porch. Combining both Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts stylistic elements, the redesigned house incorporated several leaded-glass windows with elaborate shutters, featuring historic stained-glass panels which Weir had acquired on his European sojourns. A second addition, in 1911, was designed by the prominent New York architectural firm of McKim Mead & White, and extended the dining room to the south. Following J. Alden Weir's death in 1919, the farm was inherited by his widow, Ella Baker Weir, along with his three daughters, Carolina, Dorothy, and Cora. In 1922, Carolina and Cora transferred their property rights to Dorothy and, upon their mother's death in 1930, Dorothy inherited the entire farm. In 1931, Dorothy married sculptor Mahroni Young. That same year, the house was electrified. In 1932, the Youngs remodeled the southeast room on the first floor as a library in a classical style. Dorothy Weir Young died in 1947, followed by Mahroni Young in 1957. In 1958. Weir Farm was purchased by Sperry and Doris Andrews, artists who had been longtime friends of Young and who continued the farm's tradition as a site for artistic endeavor. The property was subsequently purchased by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection in 1988, with the Andrews granted life tenancy. In 1992, Weir Farm was donated to the National Park Service for the creation of Connecticut's first National Park unit, and only the second National Park unit devoted to the visual arts, now Weir Farm National Historical Park.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2441
  • -  Survey number: HABS CT-255-A
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1779 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1900 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1911 Subsequent Work
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1830 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 03000284

Medium

  • Measured Drawing(s): 24

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CT-255-A

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ct0742

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

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For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS CT-255-A
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

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  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Julian Alden Weir, Charles Charles Platt, Mead & White McKim, Anthony Beers, Lewis Beers, Ella Baker Weir, et al. Weir Farm, Weir House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT. Fairfield County Connecticut Wilton, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ct0742/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Weir, J. A., Platt, C. C., McKim, M. &. W., Beers, A., Beers, L. [...] Davidson, P. (1933) Weir Farm, Weir House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT. Fairfield County Connecticut Wilton, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ct0742/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. Weir Farm, Weir House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT. trans by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/ct0742/>.