A Colonial militiaman’s homestead
WESTPORT — The house at 39 Cross Highway was originally built in 1742 by Phineas Chapman, a lieutenant in the Connecticut Militia in 1775. He was later promoted to captain for distinguished service in the French and Indian War.
The house burned down in 1877 or 1878 and was rebuilt by Chapman’s grandson, Charles Chapman, said Deborah Howland-Murray, current owner of the house.
“We don’t know if every- thing burned or if there is any part of the wood structure that remained,” she said. “We know some of the furniture was saved.”
She moved into the antique-colonial in 1985 and said she and previous owners worked hard to keep the house as close to its original state as possible.
The house “plays a unique role in Westport’s history and provides a direct link to the town’s pre-revolutionary period,” she said. “If houses like this had been used as a way to teach history, I would have been so much more engaged.”
The original 1742 compound encompassed a kitchen, a family room and a master bedroom, according to Howland-Murray, who spent countless hours researching the home’s history with her son Galen Murray.
“This house is like a person,” she said. “It’s like another member of the family to me and I wanted to know more about it. The more I learned, the more I felt an obligation to the Chapmans to make this history known.”
The mother and son frequented Fairfield and Westport Town Halls looking through land records, estate records and wills belonging to the Chapman family.
Chapman’s father, the Rev. Daniel Chapman, was the first pastor of Greens Farms Congregational Church in Westport and his son, Joseph, was the first Westportarea physician.
Howland-Murray said the house served as an inn during the Revolutionary War and rumor has it, George Washington spent the night there on one occasion.
“We know (Chapman) was taken prisoner when the British came through Danbury in 1777,” HowlandMurray said. “He was taken prisoner in a sugar house with his brother Dennie. (His) health was broken by being there because there were such horrible circumstances, so he died five years later.”
She and Galen visited Chapman’s grave in Greens Farms Church’s cemetery and noted some of his relatives are buried at Willowbrook Cemetery and Poplar Plains Cemetery in Westport.
The last Chapman to live in the house was Laura Chapman. She died in 1927, Howland-Murray said.
Today, the home remains in similar condition to its 1870s rebuild, aside from an expansion to the kitchen and living room in 2007. Howland-Murray also added an artist studio and a laundry room that same year.
The house is 3,400 square feet and includes a pool, two original fireplaces, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and two half bathrooms. An L-shaped stone wall at the front of the structure used to be the foundation for an English bank barn that Howland-Murray thinks dates to the 1700s, before the fire.
She said her research took on a whole new meaning when she decided to downsize and sell the house. She contacted the Westport Historic District Commission and the Historical Society to preserve the home and protect it from future demolition. She’s hoping the home will become a designated historical landmark before she moves out.
The title would mean she or any future owner must get permission from the Westport Historic District Commission before altering the exterior of the house, said chairman Randy Henkels. Alterations must be compatible with the historic structure, he added.
The house is on the market for $1.95 million with Sandy Ruta and Marina Leo of Higgins Group listed as real estate agents.
Even though HowlandMurray plans to physically leave, she plans to take a piece of the home with her. Together, she and her son have plan to either write a book or create a screenplay on the home’s history.