John Cady House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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John Cady House
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | 484 Mile Hill Rd., Tolland, Connecticut |
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| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | c. 1720 |
| NRHP reference No. | 82004390 |
| Added to NRHP | April 12, 1982 |
The John Cady House, also known historically as the Babcock Tavern, is a historic house at 484 Mile Hill Road in Tolland, Connecticut. With a distinctive construction history dating to about 1720, it serves as an important window into the construction methods and techniques of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Description and history
The John Cady House stands in a rural residential area of southwestern Tolland, at the southwest corner of Mile Hill Road (Connecticut Route 31) and Cedar Swamp Road. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a large central chimney. Its main entrance is centered on the front facade, framed by Greek Revival pilasters with a corniced entablature. Although its exterior is uniform, the building is structurally composed of two separate buildings which were butted together, leading to an interior layout that is unusual. The central chimney appears to have been modified at the time the two sections were joined, in order to accommodate a larger kitchen fireplace. The roof frame shows evidence that the house was once covered by a gambrel roof, instead of the present gable.
The exact construction date of the house is uncertain. A house is known to have been standing in this general area around 1720, which may have been this structure's southern portion. Furthermore, its construction methods appear to be more typical of Massachusetts than Connecticut in this period, suggesting it may have been built by the elder John Cady, who hailed from Groton, Massachusetts. The property belonged to a younger John Cady from 1726 to 1755. The road was relocated during the 18th century, from the west side of the house to the east, resulting in the transfer of the house to the Weston family. Elijah Weston was documented to operate a tavern here between 1794 and 1800. It is unknown where the name "Babcock Tavern", a historic 19th-century name, originates, since no Babcocks are documented as having lived in this area.
In August of 2020 William A. Flynt of Dummerston Vt. performed a dendrochronology survey of the oldest part of the dwelling. The ten core samples yielded a very accurate felling date of the oak timbers of fall/winter 1752/3. The earliest the frame could have been erected was spring/summer of 1753. Seeing as Jonathan Weston was the landowner in 1753 and his name appears at this location on a hand drawn map of Tolland from 1753, it seems most likely he was the builder.
