By Gretchen A. Peck

At 461 Greenhaven Road in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, there’s a home for sale that inspired generations of memories and thoughtful care. It sits behind a stacked stone wall, modestly colonial in style, unadorned and practical, stained in a deep red—quintessentially New England. The owner, Jane Abrams, recently enlisted Lucia Johnstone and Henri Gourd, Realtors with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties brokerage in Stonington, to sell the home she’s cherished. The asking price is $475,000. Johnstone and Gourd are hosting a public open house at the property this Sunday, June 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The previous owner delved into the history of the property, providing Abrams with some of the accounts he was able to confirm through historical records. The actual construction date of the house is uncertain, but he did find some clues that honed in on the time period. The land on which the house now stands was sold in 1760, though there was no mention of the structure then. It was in 1780, when the farmland was again sold that a notation of the dwelling was recorded. Still, the house was likely built decades before. Published in 1903, “Houses of Ancestors (Stonington),” written by Grace Denison Wheeler, referenced the house and noted it was about 150 years old by then. Denison Wheeler noted in her tome that the house was built by William Stanton, who sold it to Job Stanton in 1750. The Stantons were among Stonington’s first Colonial-period settlers. The family operated a trading post on River Road.

By 1825, the house and farm were sold again to Samuel Allan Burdick, a soldier who served in the War of 1812. Burdick put an addition on, which is now the kitchen and dining room. When he passed away in 1875, he bequeathed the property to a niece who lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, with the stipulation that his two sisters, Lucy and Freelove, could continue to live in the home, as long as they were not married. In 1902, the house was sold again to a Mr. and Mrs. Schiller for $1,200.

Over the years, the land was subdivided and sold off, but the house remained and was improved by subsequent owners, who added heat, new wiring and a new chimney. The owner prior to Abrams had all the exterior paint removed and stained siding, instead, and he added a drilled well. He razed an old outhouse and a building referred to as the “milk house” to make a more usable lawn. It also allowed him to add some landscaping elements, including now mature trees and English boxwoods. When he sold the home to Abrams and her husband in December 2004, he shared the history with the new owners and wrote, “All of the neighbors are extremely nice and all maintain their properties very nicely, which is an added feature.”

Abrams and her husband have always appreciated homes of a certain vintage. She remarked on their character and recounted how they’d owned a Greek Revival house further out in the country before settling here, and had lived in a Colonial Revival-style home prior to that in Montclair, New Jersey. “We’ve always lived in old houses,” she told Welcome Home. “We both loved this house and the property. When we first moved it, we had two Irish Setters who’d roam around.”

The house is a manageable 1,760 square feet, with two bedrooms and two baths. Its primary level comprises a living room, family room, sitting room, a full bath, dining room, galley kitchen and an adjacent room that the owners used as a TV room/office.

Though improved and modified over the centuries, much of its period character has been lovingly maintained. Abrams pointed to the “keeping room,” the primary living room and its large wood-burning fireplace as an example. The house has several wood-burning fireplaces, though the couple preferred not to use them out of an abundance of caution. She recommended the next owners do their due diligence and have them inspected, cleaned and perhaps relined before use.

The kitchen is a galley-style design. The Abrams put in new cabinets during their time here, and replaced appliances as needed. She suggested the new owner may choose to remove one of the walls, sure-up the opening with a beam, in keeping with the aesthetic, and have more of an open-plan design popular today. The couple considered putting on an addition off the back of the house and using it as another bedroom. “But we decided that we were going to live in the house just as it is, and it was fine, because it was just the two of us,” she reflected.

The two bedrooms are on the second floor of the house; however, Abrams suggested that one of the parlors on the first floor could be used as a bedroom—in fact, it’s how they used it for a time, creating true one-level living for them, while reserving the upstairs bedrooms for guests.

If a buyer wishes to have a home office, there are at least two options—a room that’s adjacent to the kitchen, or perhaps one of the upstairs bedrooms, she suggested.

Iconic to Connecticut, especially the southeast part of the state, stone walls provide visual boundaries around the home. The house is situated on 1.23 acres today, and though the setting feels patently like the country, Abrams pointed out how close they are to places of convenience, shops, restaurants, beaches, marinas and state parks. They particularly enjoyed being within an easy drive of Stonington Borough and Westerly and Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The surrounding community is replete with Colonial-period history, as well. She noted the nearby Stanton-Davis House, which dates back to 1690.

“We just loved feeling like you’re way out in the country, although we were just five or six minutes from town,” she said.

Property: 461 Greenhaven Rd., Pawcatuck

Bedrooms: 2

Baths: 2

Square Footage: 1,760

Acreage: 1.23

Asking Price: $475,000

Listing Agents: Lucia T. Johnstone and Henri Gourd, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, New England Properties; Johnstone’s Mobile: (860) 912-4144; Gourd’s Mobile: (914) 954-3897; LuciaJohnstone@bhhsne.com; henrigourd@bhhsne.com