131 S Benson Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824

IN TOWN AND PRIVATE! VALUE! Don't let the outside,which needs paint, fool you. Yes you will need some cash to renovate, but the NEIGHBORHOOD VALUES WARRANT IT! This is not a tear down. It's a treat for your eyes with a million dollar view of the OLD POST ROAD. Great HISTORY? YES! The 2nd home burned by the British during the Revolution; then rebuilt in 1779. It was also a tavern, w/notable guests. It sits on South Benson Rd and OLD POST RD. It has been in the same family since the 1800s! AMAZING IN TOWN LOT with home with high ceilings, grand rooms, wide plank floors, many built-ins. AMPLE closet space. New 200 amp elec. service. Natural gas to the house. There were 8 fireplaces, 7 are exposed with beautiful mantles. With some repair and/or gas conversion all 8 may be able to be made operational. Finishable, walk up attic. Grand foyer & stairs. Spacious rooms & halls. This home most of features the original flavor of the period. So much history...original glass, doors, flooring, nooks, crannies, fine detail. A history lovers dream! A "blank slate" with many opportunities to incorporate history with the comforts of 2019. Stunning grounds: fully fenced, 0.44 acre yard, with stone columned pergola w/wisteria, rock garden, non-functionial outhouse and well. Lilacs, their aroma and pops of color, surround most of the fencing &lawn. Garage in back. Enclosed porch, tool rooms provide added space for baths, 1st floor MBR or larger EIK, without expanding footprint! NO FLOOD INS!

NOT IN FLOOD ZONE. Historical background - 131 S. Benson Built by Elijah Abel (a Major in the Continental Army and High Sheriff of Fairfield County) in early fall of 1779, after his earlier house had been burned by the British in July of 1779. Because of the scarcity of building materials in town, only half the rooms were finished that year; the other half of the rooms were finished in 1780. When Elijah Abel died in 1809, Captain Abraham Benson purchased the house. Captain Benson (1780-1849) moved from New York to Fairfield after becoming enamored with the town as a young boy when he would work on the ships bringing goods to the town. As an adult, he owned several ships and frequently traveled to the West Indies. Benson ran steamboats up the Hudson River and sailed Long Island Sound, and had married Abel’s niece, Esther Jarvis, daughter of General Jarvis, who lived about one year after marriage. Following her death, he married Grissell Burr, with whom he had eleven children. After her death, he married Finette Edwards of New Milford with whom he had a daughter, Finette Benson. During the War of 1812 he managed a store out of his home, Benson House. There, he served as Commissary to General Ford at Fort Union on Grover's Hill, furnishing rations to the men stationed at Fort Union. He also served as Postmaster. After retiring from the sea in 1932, he turned the “Benson House” into an inn or tavern, a popular stop for Daniel Webster and Washington Irving, Edwin Booth (whose acting company rehearsed in the barn), John Audubon, as well as a travelling circus. One of the largest inns in the area, it was a stagecoach stop from New York to Boston. The Benson Home has seen several remodels since then, including the removal of the inn section. His youngest daughter Finette Edwards Benson, ultimately inherited the property. She married John Nichols and their daughters Finette Benson Nichols and Emma Starr Nichols lived in the house until their death. Both were involved in civic organizations; Finette Benson Nichols became Fairfield’s first female state legislator, serving in the Connecticut General Assembly from 1931-1948. Emma designed fine gardens, choosing trees, lilacs, and evergreens, many of which still exist on the property today. The house remains in the family until today.