Architecture

Architecture
The Enos Kellogg House is a two story (plus attic), 2,800 square foot saltbox farmhouse.  The house faces the terminating end of Ponus Avenue Extension, a road that has evolved from a Native American trail between Norwalk and New Canaan known as “Ponasses Path”, into a street connecting the two towns, and finally into a dead-end as a result of construction of the Merritt Parkway adjacent to the property.  Oriented to the southwest, the dwelling has four bays across the front, with the front entrance located in the second bay in from the south side of the house.  The roof is currently comprised of asphalt shingles, although historic photographs and remaining roof sheathing show it to have been wood shingled originally.  While no original windows remain on the first or second floors, the likely original front door remains.  This single board thick Dutch door, containing two small raised panels over two large raised panels on the top and two large raised panels over two small raised panels on the bottom, is hung on likely original pintled strap hinges, and features an elaborate, likely original iron thumb latch. 

A stone path leads up to the front door from Ponus Avenue Extension, terminating in a large granite entry step directly in front of the front door.  A number of mature trees are dispersed across the property.  Stone walls of varying sizes remain in multiple locations around the property.  The lot drops off to the north of the house, with the barn at a grade substantially lower than that of the house.  Elsewhere, the lot is very gently sloping and open.

The exterior of the house is currently wood shingled.  The use of modern nails makes it clear that these shingles are not original.  There is evidence that the house may originally have been covered in beaded clapboards.  Underneath the current shingles on all sides of the house, red painted, beaded clapboards have been recycled as sheathing.  Although clearly not located in their original positions, these boards contain wrought nails, and are present in such quantity as to indicate that the original covering of the house may have been re-used as sheathing beneath the shingling, once it was determined that the old boards were no longer fit to serve as a visible finish surface for the house.  Victorian era photographs of the house clearly show the house shingled, so it is likely that the original covering was removed at some point in the 19th century.

Framing
The house is of timber framed construction, with posts and beams comprised primarily of oak.  Floor joists throughout the house show milling saw marks, but major timbers appear to have been hand-cut and shaped.  All joints are held fast with wooden pegs, and the major visible framing timbers are scribe ruled.  Roman numeraled raising marks are evident on rafter peaks, and at other exposed timber unions throughout the house.

Significance
Taken as a whole, the Enos Kellogg House is an outstanding example of a New England farmhouse that was designed and constructed in the saltbox form.  As described by J. Fredrick Kelley the development of this “integral lean-to” design reflected the attainment in Connecticut of a more pervasive level of wealth and security that allowed families “to devote much more attention to the physical home.”  Originally, the saltbox form reflected the evolution of a house over time, as a gabled one and a half or two story structure was expanded at some point after construction by the addition of a lean-to attached to the rear of the first story.  The emergence of the integral lean-to form, which integrates space that had previously been a deferrable luxury into the initial construction of the house, indicates that additional domestic space had ceased being a luxury, and had, in fact, become, “owing to changes in the mode of living, a sheer necessity.”
The Enos Kellogg House retains, to an impressive degree, the architectural elements that define the saltbox style in Connecticut in the second half of the 18th century.  In addition to the extended sloping rear roofline that gives this style its colloquial name, the building is centered around a characteristic massive fieldstone chimney stack from which open three fireplaces on the first floor, and a fourth fireplace on the second floor.  The floor plan matches that typically associated with a lean-to and described by J. Fredrick Kelley as “two large front rooms, one of which is a parlor, the other being variously known as the living room, hall or keeping room,” and a kitchen that is “centrally located, behind the great chimney.”  The major framing elements of the house are of hand hewn oak, the dominantly used species in 18th century Connecticut joined using the scribe rule technique that prevailed in Connecticut through the close of the 18th century.
While the Enos Kellogg House is, in many ways, representative of the integral lean-to form in Connecticut in the second half of the 18th century, there are certain unique elements that make the structure particularly worthy of note.  Of primary interest from an architectural perspective is the transitional nature of the house.  In terms of its basic construction techniques, the structure, in the words of architectural historian James Sexton, “appears to be clearly late 18th century.”  Raised plates support the rafters on both the front and rear of the house, a technique that became common in the area in the last quarter of the 18th century.  In addition, certain timbers in the building’s most formal rooms were scored and covered in plaster, a stylistic detail that was uncommon the area before 1775.  In contrast to these late-18th century construction details, there are aspects of the house that are rooted in an earlier design sensibility.  Raised paneling and beaded wood casings in various areas of the house are typically associated with the mid-18th century.  Similarly, the beehive oven in the kitchen hearth is located to the rear of the firebox, a location that was antiquated by the last quarter of the 18th century, with ovens constructed after 1775 typically placed adjacent to the firebox, rather than within it. 
While these details, independently, are not unique, in aggregate they help to illustrate the construction and aesthetic changes that took place in the architecture of Connecticut in the second half of the 18th century.  In the instance of the Enos Kellogg House, the evidence would indicate that the dwelling was constructed using framing techniques that were current for the period from 1775 through 1800.  Aesthetically, however, the structure captures a moment in time when homeowners in rural Connecticut were in stylistic transition, still holding on to certain elements that they had long lived with, such as the rear oven, raised panels, and cased timbers, while easing into more modern design elements such as plastered framing members.  As summarized by Sexton, “what emerges is a house where conservative elements of form and style were used in conjunction with more progressive technological approaches.  In other words, the client-driven choices (those based on appearance) are backward looking while the craftsman-driven ones (those related to technology) are forward looking.  The result is a stylistically conservative house of the late 18th century.”
Hardware
Although much of the hardware in the house has been replaced over the years, there are several pieces that appear to be original.  These include:



Exterior front door latch: Large wrought iron thumb latch, bar, keeper and drive catch.  Latch with double spade design on top and bottom.  Attached to door by wrought nails.



Front door hinges:  Large spade tipped wrought iron strap hinges showing a bulbous flair at termination before pintle collar, indicative of a Hudson Valley design influence.  Hung on likely original driven wrought iron pintles.



Basement door hinges: Small spade tipped wrought iron strap hinges showing a bulbous flair at termination before pintle collar, indicative of a Hudson Valley Dutch design influence.  Hung on likely original driven wrought iron pintles.



Basement door thumb latch: Wrought iron thumb latch located on board and batten door from Kitchen to basement stairs.



Interior door thumb latch: Wrought iron thumb latch located on raised panel interior door between Kitchen and South Room.



Exterior door thumb latch: Large wrought iron thumb latch, bar, keeper and drive catch.  Latch with triangular top and bottom.  Attached to Greek Revival side entrance by wrought nails.