Silas Deane House

The Silas Deane House is a historic house museum at 203 Main Street in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Built in 1766, this National Historic Landmark was the home of Silas Deane (1737–1789), the first foreign diplomat for the United States.

Silas Deane House
Silas Deane House
Location203 Main Street,
Wethersfield, Connecticut
Coordinates41°41′41.89″N 72°39′13.01″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1764
Architectural styleGeorgian
Part ofOld Wethersfield Historic District (ID70000719)
NRHP reference No.70000835
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 6, 1970[1]
Designated NHLNovember 28, 1972[2]
Designated CPDecember 29, 1970

Description and history

The Deane house is a two-story wood frame structure, four bays wide, with two asymmetrically placed interior chimneys, and a two-story ell extending to the rear. The main entry, in the second bay from the right, is flanked by pilasters and topped by a crowned and dentillated pediment. The interior features original woodwork, including pilasters and fully paneled fireplaces, and an elaborate stairway balustrade.[3]

The house was built in 1766 by Silas Deane. Trained as a lawyer, Deane became involved in resistance to attempts by the British Parliament to levy taxes on its colonies in the late 1760s, and was elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1775. Deane was selected in March 1776 by that Congress to represent it in dealings with the Kingdom of France. Deane successfully negotiated the secret agreement by which France supported the nascent United States prior to its formal entry into the American Revolutionary War in 1778, after signing a formal treaty of alliance negotiated by a commission that included Deane. He later became disenchanted with the rebel cause, and died in exile in Europe.[3]

In 1959, Deane's house was donated to The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Connecticut and in 1963–1965, it was restored. It is now open as part of the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum and includes original furniture and portraits of Deane and his second wife.[3] The Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum also owns the adjacent 18th-century Joseph Webb House and the Isaac Stevens House in Old Wethersfield, and also operates the nearby Buttolph–Williams House, which is owned by Connecticut Landmarks.

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972.[2][1]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Silas Deane House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  3. Charles W. Snell (January 24, 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Silas Deane House" (pdf). National Park Service. Cite journal requires |journal= (help). Accompanying 3 photos, exterior and interior, from 1971 and 1974. (760 KB)
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