Last Connecticut Installment: Roseland Cottage

Just North of Brooklyn, Connecticut is the town of Woodstock. Woodstock is the site of the over-the-top Roseland Cottage. Combining Gothic Revival exteriors with predominantly Victorian interiors, the 1846 structure stands out among the white Federal houses that line the rest of the main street in town. The house was built by local-boy-made-good Henry Chandler Bowen as a summer retreat from his stately mansion (no longer standing) on Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights. Bowen, a teetotaler, made his fortune in New York and became an active abolitionist, Congregationalist, and Republican, playing host to several Presidents at his Woodstock home. The coolest aspect of the interior of the house was the incredible restored lincrusta that lined the walls of every room on the first floor. We’ve never seen anything like it. The barn, also pictured, was equally unusual, housing the oldest private bowling alley in the country.
Roseland Cottage [Historic New England] GMAP