Ezekiel Kelsey House

Description and history

The Ezekiel Kelsey House is located in a rural suburban setting in eastern Berlin, on the east side of Beckley Road north of Connecticut Route 9. It is a -story wood-frame structure, three large bays wide, with a large central chimney and a centered entry. It is one room deep, with a leanto section added to the rear, giving the house a saltbox appearance. The second story overhangs the first by several inches on three sides. The interior follows a typical center chimney plan, with parlor spaces on either side of the chimney, and the kitchen behind it. The left parlor is the finest room, with period wood paneling, cased timber framing, and carved trim elements. Paneling also appears in the other parlor and the kitchen; the latter room also has period cabinetry. A great deal of the house hardware is original, but some is old (period) replacement hardware salvaged from other buildings for restoration.

The house was probably built c. 1760 by Ezekiel Kelsey, who was the sixth of eleven children born to John Kelsey and Mary Buck. Ezekiel was born in Wethersfield in 1713 and died in 1795. The house may have been built by Ezekiel for his son Asahel, to whom he gave it in 1768. The house is more stylistically similar to houses built earlier in the 18th century in Connecticut than it is to many of its contemporaries.

The home of Ezekiel Kelsey's nephew Enoch also survives in Newington.

References

References

1. {{NRISref. 2007a
2. ["NRHP nomination for Ezekiel Kelsey House"]({{NRHP url). National Park Service.
3. [http://library.ferris.edu/~cochranr/gen/fam00739.htm John KELSEY/Mary Buck] {{Webarchive. link. (2002-07-08 . Retrieved on 2008-04-28.)