Nichols family summer residence

36 Sharp Hill Road, Wilton, CT

c. 1907 (Alterations only; original house constructed c. 1800) | Alterations - Residence | Extant

Minerva and William purchased this house in 1907, intending it to be a respite in summer months (much closer than William’s family home in Saco, Maine). William commuted to the second home for several years, and Minerva gradually designed alterations to the existing farmhouse (originally built c. 1800). To make a primary bedroom, Minerva transformed a windowless oak-beamed storeroom tucked behind the mass of the stone chimney with two dormers, leaving the hand-hewn oak beams exposed. Bedroom closets were tucked in under the slope of the roof, or deftly pressed into the eclectic hall space—dominated by the sculptural mass of the chimney. The ceiling of the southern bedroom was removed, opening the space up to the height of the roof ridge and allowing great amounts of sunlight to pour through the upper window.

The barn was rehabilitated with new siding and a coat of green paint. The lower level provided space for a horse stall, carriage, and workshop, while the second floor was converted into a playroom and a “dormitory” for summer visitors.

Minerva began living full-time in the house in 1922 (after William’s death), and must have added a central heating and indoor plumbing systems (the cast-iron grates are still in place).

Minerva’s daughter Adelaide wrote about the house in a book called Return to Arcady. According to a local architectural survey, Minerva kept the house until 1931.

— Researched and written by Molly Lester and Bill Whitaker