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

View 13 images in sequence.
[ Drawings from Survey HABS CT-255-B  ]

More Resources

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

About this Item

Title

  • Weir Farm, Burlingham 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
  • Webb, Jared
  • Webb, William
  • Weir, Ella Baker
  • Burlingham, Cora Weir Carlin
  • Burlingham, Charles
  • Breed, F Nelson
  • Breed, Vera
  • Nature Conservancy
  • Trust for Public Lands
  • 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

  • -  domestic life
  • -  artists
  • -  houses
  • -  Colonial Revival architectural elements
  • -  stone walls
  • -  gardens
  • -  women
  • -  Connecticut--Fairfield County--Wilton

Latitude / Longitude

  • 41.25654,-73.45634

Notes

  • -  Significance: The "small dwelling house" mentioned in a 1782 deed is the oldest reference to a building on the farm located southwest of the intersection of Nod Hill Road and Knoche Road (now Pelham Lane) in Wilton. Thought to comprise the oldest section of the structure known today as the Burlingham House, this house had a rectangular footprint of approximately 22'-6" x 24'-6". Built of traditional heavy timber frame construction on a fieldstone foundation, the house was centered on a large fieldstone chimney, typical of Connecticut farmhouses of the time. A nine-acre parcel, which included the house, was purchased by Jared Webb in 1832. In 1843, he added an adjoining 41 acres to the property. Jared died in 1847, upon which the 41-acre property was inherited by his son William. By 1855, William had acquired the nine-acre tract which included the house, with the entire 50-acre property remaining in his possession until his death in 1906. The adjoining farm on the north side of Knoche Road had been purchased by the noted American impressionist painter Julian Alden Weir (1852-1919) in 1882. In 1907, Weir purchased the 50-acre Webb Farm from William Webb's estate, thus bringing his total land holdings to more than 200 acres. During Weir's ownership, the farm was intermittently rented out to tenant farmers, primarily for growing hay. Following Weir's death in 1919, his properties were inherited jointly by his widow, Ella, and his three daughters, Caroline, Dorothy, and Cora. Following Ella Weir's death in 1930, the various properties were subsequently divided among the three daughters, with the youngest sister, Cora Weir Carlin Burlingham (1892-1986), acquiring the former Webb Farm in 1931. Cora and her husband Charles Burlingham maintained their primary residence on Park Avenue in New York City, using the Wilton farm as a weekend and vacation retreat. In rundown conditions when acquired by the Burlinghams, the former Webb House subsequently underwent significant renovation and enlargement over the next few years. The original house was gutted and extended eight feet to the south. At the same time, a substantial two-story ell, more than doubling the size of the house, was built to the rear (west). This addition, in the Colonial Revival style, featured gambrel roofs at two different heights. An elaborate Colonial Revival doorway was installed at the east entrance in 1938, designed by Nod Hill Road neighbor, architect F. Nelson Breed. An avid gardener who worked many years at the New York Botanical Garden, Cora Burlingham took an extensive interest in the landscape surrounding the house. She oversaw the construction of a system of stone walls around the property, as well as a stone terrace on the south side of the house. In 1938, a greenhouse was built on the south wall of the kitchen wing. In 1940, a stone potting shed, designed by Breed, was built to the west of the house. The adjacent sunken garden, most likely laid out by Breed's wife, Vera, a landscape designer, was probably built around this time, as well. Charles Burlingham died in 1979, at which point Cora Burlingham moved to New York and rented out the Wilton farm. Concerned about the future of both the Weir and Burlingham properties, Cora donated 37 acres to the Nature Conservancy and, upon her death in 1986, willed the remainder of the Burlingham Farm to the Trust for Public Lands. In 1988, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection purchased both the Weir and Burlingham Farms from the Trust. In 1992, these properties were transferred to the National Park Service for the creation of Connecticut's first National Park site, Weir Farm National Historical Park.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2442
  • -  Survey number: HABS CT-255-B
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1782 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: ca. 1932 Subsequent Work
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 03000284

Medium

  • Measured Drawing(s): 13

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS CT-255-B

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ct0743

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

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-B
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • 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
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://aj.sunback.homes/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
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Access to Originals

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  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

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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, Jared Webb, William Webb, Ella Baker Weir, Cora Weir Carlin Burlingham, Charles Burlingham, et al. Weir Farm, Burlingham House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT. Wilton Connecticut Fairfield County, 1933. translateds by Mcpartland, Marymitter Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ct0743/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Weir, J. A., Webb, J., Webb, W., Weir, E. B., Burlingham, C. W. C. [...] Davidson, P. (1933) Weir Farm, Burlingham House, 735 Nod Hill Road, Wilton, Fairfield County, CT. Wilton Connecticut Fairfield County, 1933. McPartland, M., trans Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/ct0743/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. Weir Farm, Burlingham 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/ct0743/>.