southwest Corner of Haddam Quarter Road and Foothills Road

This handsome cape-style Colonial sits close to the roadway at the intersection of Foothills Road and an abandoned and unpaved section of Haddam Quarter Road.

 

• Record ID: 25
• Address: southwest Corner of Haddam Quarter Road and Foothills Road
• Current Owner: Mather, M. Foster
• Name of Building: M. Foster Mather House
• Historic Name: Wilson-Clark House
• Download PDF of Original Record

Notable Features

The Mather House is a li story center chimney Cape style colonial residence. It stands on a granite foundation–an unusual feature for a Durham house, where sandstone was usually the masonry material of choice. The central chimney is likewise constructed of roughly hewn granite blocks. The facade of the house, which faces north, is divided into three bays. A replacement front door, constructed with vertical flushboards and attached with H-hinges, is framed by plain moldings. The doorway is flanked by two eight-over-twelve windows. The fenestration of the first and second stories of the gable ends consists, on the first story, of two eight-over-twelve sash, and on the second, one eight-over-twelve and one small four-over-four sash (the latter towards the rear of the house). The west gable end has an overhang between the first and second stories. The house contains three fireplaces and detailed interior millwork. The wide-plank interior floors are original to the structure. Two additions have been made to the southeast rear corner of the house, both apparently dating from a remodelling done in 1960. A large, gable-roofed addition (20′ x 15′) immediately adjoins the main block. Like the older part of the structure, it is sheathed in clapboards and roofed with asphalt shingles. To the south of this is a shed-roofed screen porch. Both additions stand on poured concrete foundations. The house is surrounded by a white wooden picket fence. A modern three-car garage stands to the south side of the structure.

Historical or Architectural Importance

In April of 1777 Samuel Sutliffe sold John Wilson 37 acres, IIpart in Durham, part in Haddam,1I for 120 pounds. A year and a half later, in October of 1778, Wilson sold the 37 acres IIwith a dwelling house and barn” for 600 pounds. The purchaser was Samuel Squires. In 1801 Squires sold his father half interest in the property. In 1808 Samuel Squires died. His estate was deeply in debt, and his father, as administrator, was ordered to sell off sufficient property to satisfy his creditors demands. He sold the farm to Dr. William Foote, whose in-laws, James and Anna Pickett, owned the farm opposite this one, on the other side of Haddam Quarter Road. In 1834, when Foote moved across the street to his deceased in-laws’ larger homestead, he deeded this house to his son James Pickett Foote. When Dr. Foote died, James moved across the street and sold his little homestead to Admiral Clark of Middletown, whose relative John B. Clark would buy the Pickett/Foote house across the street in 1869. The house remained in the Clark family until 1893, when it, like many other houses in the Haddam Quarter, was purchased by New Yorkers, Anna and George Lutz. Presumably used as a summer residence, the house changed hands frequently until the 1960s when it was purchased and restored by the family of its present owner. This house is notable both for its excellent and intact condition and for the integrity of its site. It is one of the half-dozen Cape-style colonial houses still surviving in Durham. And its use of granite in preference to sandstone masonry makes it unique. Its historical significance derives from. its association with William Foote, one of Durham’s earliest physicians.