1735 Wheeler Homestead-Where It All Started!

Something has happened and I can no longer post pictures so I am probably going to stop this Blog and Blog at a new site. Thanks for reading what I have written and please switch to my new site. Jean

New Blog Site - Mystic and Stonington, a Storied Past, CT Tales from my Ancestors,
http://mystoningtonancestors.wordpress.com

When I was 10 years old my grandmother inherited The Wheeler Homestead in Stonington, CT also known as Maple Lawn Farm. This house, located at 343 Wheeler Road, had been in my family since 1735! A book had even been published about this house.

Today this 1735 historic house is in the process of being torn down and rebuilt. Over the old arched Victorian double doors the wooden plaque read, 

Richard A. Wheeler and Grace Denison Wheeler, my author ancestors,  published books that are still used today as major resources for local Stonington area history.( See the books listed in the plaque above) Their books tell the stories from the Indians and first settlers of this Stonington-Mystic area onward until the early 1900’s. They show old black and white photographs of many old houses and buildings  and relate their colorful history. One book explains what was transcribed on all the old gravestones in Stonington.

Using articles and books left to me, along with the book Grace Wheeler’s Memories, about this house, I hope to share with you some stories from the past but link them to the present!

This is what the house looked like when I lived there in the 60's and 70's. It had white clapboards and green shutters. Its official name was  Maple Lawn Farm since there had been many Maple trees lining the long stone driveway.

This is the same Wheeler Homestead in May, 2011. After 276 long Connecticut winters the house needs major restoration.  In this picture  the porch has been removed, the shutters are off and the ell in back has been completely rebuilt.

Can a house “reproduction” still tell the same stories of the past?