Lois Banister House
- Property Overview
- Inventory List
- Property Map
- Historic/Common Name:
- Ezra Lyon House
- Address:
- 483 Center Road
- Town:
- Woodstock »
- Year:
- c. 1803, c. 1900
- Historic Designation:
- LHP, SR
- Property Authority:
- Historic Properties Commission
- Features:
- Buildings
- Historic Use:
- Residence and Shop
- Present Use:
- Residence
- Architectural Style:
- Greek Revival/ Victorian
- Era:
- 19th Century
- Map:
- {# if eligible_for_tax_credits}
- Eligible for Historic Home tax credits:
- Yes {/if #}
- General description:
The one-story, Cape Cod- form house sits on the north side of Center Road about ten yards back from the road. Extending to the east of the house are a series of connected out-buildings, including a former shop, a small, early 19th century barn and a late 19th/early 20th century. two-story barn/carriage house. The house is probably the second house on the property, as the existing cellar contains a foundation of a smaller, earlier house that was reused and enlarged for the present building. The house has undergone a number of alterations on both the exterior and the interior.
- Significance of the property:
The house is a significant component of the community. It occupies the far northern limit of the village of West Woodstock, sitting just beyond and east of the intersection of Center Road and Bradford Corner Road. Erected c. 1803, it may have been the second house on the site, as the remains of an earlier, much smaller house can be found in the cellar, where one can see that the original foundation was adapted and enlarged to this house. In 1829 the property came into the possession of Justin Marcy, whose descendants occupied the property until 1902. The small family cemetery just to the east of the property is the Marcy Family Cemetery and the graves of several of the former residents of the property are located there. The small shop attached to the house is possibly the shoe shop of Rhodes W. Marcy, who along with his daughter Ellen are listed as shoemakers in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census. The expanded complex of connected house, shop, barn and carriage house are one of the few surviving examples in West Woodstock and Woodstock. Since the first house and outbuildings were built on the 2 acre parcel c. 1803, the property has retained its size and function as the home of village artisans. After 1850, Fidelia Marcy, widow of Gurdon Marcy occupied the property with her son, Rhodes W. and daughter Ellen. Fidelia left a $1000 trust fund for the maintenance of the adjacent Marcy Family Cemetery.
- Relationship with the Surroundings:
The house occupies a 2- acre lot, originally set off in c. 1803. The walled cemetery of the Marcy Family, owners and occupants of the house from c.1829-1902, forms the eastern boundary; paved roads from the south and west boundaries; and open fields are situated to the north of the lot. The ell, sheds and barn extend to the east of the house along the road.
- Ownership:
- Private
- Owner:
- Ahearn Timothy P, Aimee M
- Sources:
[1] District information retrieved from the town website http://www.townofwoodstock.com/.
[2] Lois Banister House, 483 Center Road, Woodstock, Historic Resources Inventory, Wood Elizabeth, Stachiw Myron O., Smith Evelyn Cole, 1999, SHPO Library, Hartford.
Assessors information retrieved from the website www.visionappraisal.com- Date of Compilation:
- 12/31/11
- Compiler:
- Manjusha Patnaik, CT Trust for Historic Preservation
Map of the historic property retrieved from the Historic Resources Inventory, SHPO library, Hartford.
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