Levi B. Frost House

The Levi B. Frost House, also known as Asa Barnes Tavern, is an historic house at 1089 Marion Avenue in the Marion village of Southington, Connecticut, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and historic significance.

Levi B. Frost House/Asa Barnes Tavern
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
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Location	1089 Marion Ave., Southington, Connecticut
Coordinates	41°34′5″N 72°55′29″W
Area	1.8 acres (0.73 ha)
Architectural style	Greek Revival/Colonial
Part of	Marion Historic District (ID88001423)
NRHP reference No.	87002037[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1987
Designated CP	December 21, 1988

Asa Barnes established a tavern in this home at around 1765, when Marion Avenue was part of a north-south road connecting Bristol and New Haven.[2][3] During the American Revolutionary War, in 1781, troops under French general Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau established their eighth campsite of their route nearby on French Hill, and Landlord Barnes entertained the officers in his tavern for the four nights of the encampment.[4] Rochambeau visited Barnes' Tavern again on the return march on October 27, 1782.[2][4][5][6]

The building that housed Barnes' house and tavern was partially destroyed in a fire in 1836.[2][3] After the fire, the house's owner, Levi B. Frost, a local blacksmith, repaired the structure. Frost, who was later to become the proprietor of an early factory in Marion, restored the house in the Greek Revival style that was popular in the middle of the 19th century, incorporating a full pedimented gable, three-bay facade, recessed front doorway that is flanked by plain pilasters that support an entablature with projecting cyma cornice characteristic of Greek Revival buildings.[2][3] What is uncharacteristic of the Greek Revival style is the building's length of 50 feet, which may be the result of the original 18th-century structure.[2] Investigators believe that the large rear room with its well-worn chestnut planks, large cooking fireplace and stone hearth, gouged dado and separate exterior door, appears older than the rest of the house and is likely to be the pre-1836 taproom of the former tavern.[2] The front of the building generally appears to be newer, as it bears the most characteristic details of the Greek Revival style, including wide pine floors, a front stairway rising to the left, a large front room on the right and detailing of stairway treads, risers, railing and handrail that appear to be original of the mid-century design.[2]

The house is now a private residence. In 1987 the house was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural and historical significance. It is also part of the Marion Historic District.[2]

See also

• Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
• List of historic sites preserved along Rochambeau's route
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Southington, Connecticut

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. David F. Ransom (1987), National Register Nomination Form: Levi B. Frost House (Barnes Tavern), Connecticut Historical Commission
3. Janice L. Elliott; David F. Ransom; John Herzan (January 26, 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Marion Historic District". National Park Service.
4. H.R. Timlow, Ecclesiastical and Other Sketches of Southington, Conn., (1875)
5. F.S. Marcy Crofut, Guide to the history and the historic sites of Connecticut, (Yale University Press, 1937
6. L.C. Kopec, Southington, (Arcadia, 2007)