Ehrick K. Rossiter - Designs for Modern Living

One of America’s foremost architects, Ehrick  K. Rossiter, is the subject of a new book by noted American Architecture Historian Ann Y. Smith.  This volume, which features nearly 200 illustrations, 50 of them in color, include glass pate images of the buildings when they were new, floor plans and gardens, and images from an original copy of Rossiter’s rare 1883 book.

Ehrick K. Rossitter – Designs for Modern Living is a window into America’s past for historians, owners of historic properties, students of architecture and design, and for everyone who wonders about this country’s most expansive era in building. Rossiter worked primarily in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, designing everything from low-cost housing to country estates, exclusive hotels and apartment buildings in New York City, along with libraries, town halls, clubs, resorts, and churches.

In Connecticut, many people live in the shadow of Rossiter’s famous buildings such as The Music Shed in Norfolk and churches in Washington, Litchfield and New Milford.

Ann Y. Smith, a well known historian who was a museum curator for 30 years, and an adjunct lecturer on American Architectural History, has written extensively about New England, and Connecticut in particular. In this text she offers the most in-depth analysis ever available of Rossiter’s great contribution to American architecture.

The book is available now at The Hickory Stick Bookshop, 2 Green Hill Road, Washington, CT. 06793 and the author will have a book signing there on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. She will also offer a lecture on Ehrick Rossiter at the Gunn Museum (another Rossiter building) on Saturday, May 11 at 11 a.m. For more information, please visit the website at www.ehrickrossiter.com.

For area information www.litchfieldhills.com

From Farmington to Sharon: Journey of an 18th c. House

If the preservation, architecture and restoration of early American homes makes your heart flutter, please join the Sharon Historical Society on Saturday, January 12, at 3 pm as the Society welcomes Sharon resident John Baroody, speaking on "The Journey of an 18th Century Home."

During the program, Mr. Baroody will share the story of his home, a classic timber-frame Colonial originally built in Farmington Connecticut in the early 1700s and now situated in Sharon. "After more than two centuries the house had fallen on hard times and was going to be torn down for commercial development before I got my hands on it. While it looked beat up from the outside, the bones of the house were still in excellent condition. The frame was constructed entirely of white oak and was joined and assembled with traditional timber frame pegged joinery. Having done this before, I've become familiar with how 18th century houses are built, so the process of deconstructing, moving, and reassembling the parts was fairly straightforward. All of the boards and timbers were marked and mapped out, then loaded one by one onto a truck and delivered to the site where we laid a new foundation and began putting it back together," says Baroody.

This was truly a labor of love. The program is based on a 3-part video series done with Fine Homebuilding about the project and will include hands-on examples of 18th century building materials, plus a question and answer period.

Be sure to mark your calendar for our next winter lecture, on Saturday January 19 at 3 pm, when local author, geologist and historian Ed Kirby presents, "Amesville, Horatio Ames and the Ames Brothers."

The Sharon Historical Society is located at 18 Main Street, on the green, in Sharon, CT. Parking is available on the street in the museum's lot. Feel free to visit the SHS website at www.sharonhist.org for more information on upcoming programs and Sharon history.