Orrin Freeman House Picnic
37 Maple Avenue East, HIgganum, CT
Our friends, Clark and Kamilla Gardner, at the Orrin Freeman 37 Maple Avenue East have invited members of the Haddam Historical Society to a pot-luck summer picnic to be held on Monday, July 10, 2023, starting at 3 pm.
The Orrin Freeman House is probably one of the most fascinating houses in town. This majestic and romantic style villa was built 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. Between 1910 and 1942 Burr 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. It is a sight to behold
If you are interested in attending, please email Lisa at the museum contact@haddamhistory.org and let her know what you are bringing.
