! On October 5, 2013 the Haddam Historical Society will host a historic house tour featuring six of the village’s most interesting architectural and historical homes. The tour will also feature a stop at the Higganum Cemetery and the tour headquarters at the Higganum Congregational Church will also be open to visitors.
Tickets cost $25 in advance and $30 the day of the tour. The tour headquarters and check in is at the Higganum Congregational Church at 23 Parsonage Road, Higganum. Participants will pick up their programs and directions. A gourmet boxed lunch for $12 will be provided by the Cooking Company of Haddam and will be available by reservation. The lunches must be pre-ordered. Call 860-345-2400 for selections.
The Orrin Freeman House is probably one of the most fascinating houses in town. This majestic and romantic style villa was built by Freeman in 1841. The house is a brick structure with stucco facing. It blends features from the Greek Revival and Italianate periods including the overhanging eaves and porch columns. Freeman, a life-long bachelor, once owned and operated a brickyard and the largest lumberyard and sawmill in Middlesex County and supplied much of the lumber used to build ships at Higganum Landing. In 1908 Eugene Orlando Burr purchased the home and it remains in the family today. Eugene Orlando Burr was the son of Orlando Burr and the grandson of Noah Burr. Between 1910 and 1942 he ran a dairy farm on the premises known as Higganum Dairy. Highlights of the Freeman House include the large “Spirit of ‘76” mural, painted on the southwest elevation of the house; it was painted by Burr’s son-in-law Bill Gardner in 1976 to commemorate the Bicentennial; Gardner also installed a kitchen ceiling clock which measures nine feet and was salvaged from the Middletown Municipal Building clock tower when it was demolished in 1962.
