Layers of History in South Kent: A Preservation Story
After nearly 300 years, a house in South Kent is still has much to reveal to its owner-caretakers.
"The idea is to repair rather than replace," Branson says, standing amidst the post-and-beam reconstruction efforts. Photos: Jaime Stathis
A few years ago, I met Doug Branson the way rural neighbors do — a bear was going through the garbage. Or maybe I needed help tracking down Ophelia, that one cat who preferred to hunt for her dinner, hide in the neighbor's barn, or — gasp! — walk the railroad tracks. I was looking after a house and some pets for a couple of months in the heart of South Kent, Connecticut, and I loved looking across the street at Doug's home on the corner of Camps Flat and South Kent Roads. We eventually moved our conversations from the street to Doug's patio, and when he asked if I wanted to see inside, I couldn't say yes fast enough. It's not every day I get to tour a Pre-Revolutionary War home, this one built by John Hopson c. 1740.
The original Hopson key framed with a photo of the house and note to the Tylers.
"It's basically a decaying museum," Doug says, walking me through the narrow entryway and into the living room, where, minus the slipcovered white sofas, the original 19x19 land grant cabin feels authentic and intact. The living room is comfortably cool even on a hot day, and standing in front of the fireplace, it's hard not to wonder what stories it holds. You get the sense that things happened there, and after nearly 300 years, a lot of life has indeed gone down within those walls. Local legend has it that Generals Washington and Lafayette spent the night there while passing through the area.
Doug Branson in the living room holding a pen and ink drawing of the original house by his father-in-law Larry C. Coultrip.
Chris Coultrip Branson spent her early childhood in the house, then moved back in 1997 to care for her father, Larry Coultrip. Larry was an antiquarian, historian, and artist who lived in the house until he died in 1998. Doug and Chris got married, and he joined her at 4 Camps Flats Road, where they lived and raised their two sons. "When my father-in-law gave us the house, all he asked was that we wouldn't renovate unless we could do the whole thing," Doug says.
Doug is candid about the fact that the house could use some work. "It needs pretty much everything a 300-year-old house needs," he says, which happens to be almost everything — but he has no intention of removing the house's character. "People love the house and don't want it to change," and he and I agree that keeping the "funky stuff" like the faded wallpaper or that one step with a riser that doesn't match the others is imperative to retaining the personality of a place.
"The idea is to repair rather than replace," Branson says, giving the example of taking the time to refinish the window casings (which is time intensive) instead of buying new (which is fast and easy). Doug and Chris still own the property together and are custodians of the house, making careful, conscientious choices about what to do and how to do it because the house holds enormous history not only for their family but for the community.
It's well known that the house served as a general store and post office (it's catty-corner from South Kent's current post office) and that the 140 acres behind it were a pig farm and dairy. Farmers would bring their milk down to the train stop across the street near Hatch Pond, an area affectionately known as "Pigtail Corner" because of the night the farmers gathered the pigs and cut all their tails off.
Last month, a new layer of the house's history was revealed when the ceiling in the front of the house was removed to repair damage to the roof from a December 23, 2022 wind storm. "It shook the whole house," Doug said, grateful to have been putting in a load of laundry on the other side of the house when the tree hit. Doug explained that because of the post-and-beam construction of the house, the impact from the tree hit one corner of the roof, which torqued the whole foundation, and repairing the damage isn't as simple as just replacing the roof.
Because of insurance delays and finding the right contractor to take on the project, they only just got started with the repairs. When the plaster ceiling was removed, an old store sign was revealed. It reads Groceries, Good Things to Eat, CW Page.
The exposed old store sign
Doug and Chris plan to keep the sign exposed and also want to preserve the joists (which are trees!) that were also recently revealed. They're currently in the process of getting the house on the historic register and have applied for a preservation grant to help preserve the sign and other things insurance doesn't cover. Once repairs are complete, they look forward to inviting visitors curious about local history to see the sign and other historical elements at 4 Camps Flat Road in historic Pigtail.
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