Wallingford Road, north side

Surrounded by sloping open fields in a rural residential area the Tibbals homestead is bordered to the east by
a number of early twentieth-century rental properties.

• Record ID: 188
• Address: Wallingford Road, north side
• Current Owner: Greenbacker,
• Name of Building:
• Historic Name: Samuel and Samuel G. Tibbals House
• Download PDF of Original Record

Notable Features

A delicate Federal period entrance portico enhances the facade of this 2 1/2 story building. The six-panelled door which features a leaded fanlight is original . Two-over-two sash have replaced the original windows and a two-story shed-roofed addition has been annexed to the rear elevation. The first story of the eastern elevation contains a “funeral door.” Sited to the west of the house is a deteriorating 2 1/2 story barn and stone silo base.

Historical or Architectural Importance

Built in 1828, this five-bay, center-chimney plan house is prominently sited atop a rise along the northside of Wallingford Road. Topped with an asphalt-shingied,
ridge~to-street gable roof. the clapboarded post-and-beam frame rests on a brownstone foundation.
Samuel Tibbals (1774-1857) and his son, Samuel G. Tibbals (1805-1891) erected this house in 1828 on the site of the Ebenezer and Joseph Tibbals Homestead. Samuel Sr., a farmer, was married to Esther Swathel in 1794. For many years he served as a local representative and town selectman. Samuel G. Tibbals, like his father, was a farmer and active in local political affairs. In 1828, shortly after the house was completed, Samuel Jr. married Harriet Hall {1806-1883), the daughter of John Hall. Upon the death of the elder Tibbals in 1857, his half of the property was willed to his other son, Henry H. Tibbals of Brooklyn, New York. Samuel G. continued to operate the farm and eventually his son, Gilbert G. (b 1840) inherited his portion of the house. Gilbert and his cousin, George A. Tibbals sold the entire property to farmer Charles Selander of New Britain. In 1927 wealthy New Haven citizen, Frederick F. Brewster bought the house and the surrounding farms to raise sheep, chickens and horses for pleasure. The enlarged farm employed a number of people and Mr. Brewster constructed five early twentieth-century dwellings to house his employees. Today all the dwellings, including the Tibbals homestead are used as rental properties.

Virtually unaltered since its construction, the Samuel and Samuel G. Tibbals house derives its significance as a fine example of Federal period architecture in Durham. “