Sand Hill Road, north side

Located on a landscaped lot, the David Norton House is set in a neighborhood which developed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the industrial activity along Malt Brook. Some modern residential development has occurred to the south.

• Record ID: 167
• Address: Sand Hill Road, north side
• Current Owner: Perry, Kenneth and Irene
• Name of Building:
• Historic Name: David Norton House
• Download PDF of Original Record

Notable Features

The building lacks any stylistic detail identifying it with a distinct architectural style, and the main block of the structure could have been built anytime in the
mid-nineteenth century. The 1 1/2 story, 2 bay ell projecting from the eastern elevation could possibly be older than the main portion and date from the late eighteenth century, as there was a dwelling house on the property prior to 1823. The facade entrance is protected by a free-standing gable-roofed overdoor. Six-over-six sash are exhibited on the first story and smaller one-over-one sash on the second story.

Historical or Architectural Importance

Facing south onto Sand Hill Road, this modest early nineteenth-century domestic-style house was constructed in 1823. Featuring a 1 1/2 gable-to-street, three-bay, side-hall-plan facade, the house sits on a fieldstone foundation reinforced with concrete. The post-and-beam frame is sided with clapboards.
In 1823 David Norton of Guilford purchased a 3 1/2 acre lot with house and barn from Bathsheba Hart of Granby. Shortly after they purchased it, Norton (1771-1855) and
his wife Nancy (1786-1835) enlarged the house to meet the needs of their growing family. Upon his death in 1855 Norton willed the house to his three children, Mary Ann, Lousia, and Henry. In 1878 they sold the house to Henry Chapman, Louisa’s husband, with the stipulation that Mary Ann have the right to lease it for the term of her natural life. Mary Ann, who never married, died in 1892 and the house was sold shortly thereafter.