Hidden Gems: A Village Of Oddities At Boothe Museum

STRATFORD, CT — At the top of a sloping lawn lined with trees off the banks of the Housatonic River is a village of oddities. Among them are a clock tower, a mid-20th century tollbooth, a rose garden and what is said to be the oldest homestead in America.

Many of the 18 buildings on the 32-acre property were constructed by its most recent full-time residents — the Boothe brothers, an eccentric pair of bachelors who left their estate to the town of Stratford upon their deaths just before 1950.

Today the place the brothers once called home is known as the Boothe Memorial Park & Museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site at 5800 Main St. has become a destination for tourists and school groups to experience a sense of playfulness and whimsy from another era.

The Past

The house where brothers David Beach Boothe and Stephen Nichols Boothe spent most of their years was built around 1840, but sits on the foundation of a home constructed in 1663. The homestead was originally a farm but the brothers' father had a manufacturing company and the brothers themselves worked in property management and insurance.

"They traveled all over the world," said Ann Minton, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Friends of Boothe Park. "... They were quite wealthy for their time."

The brothers built several structures on the property inspired by their travels, including a miniature windmill and a building they called the technocratic cathedral, which is held together with dowels instead of nails. They also converted the hay barn into a clock tower and museum showcasing their collection of personal items, such as the second-largest pair of steer horns in America and the carriage Gov. Jonathan Trumbull took to his inauguration in Hartford.

"They have the weirdest things on the property," Minton said.

The main house features a floor in the billiard and dining rooms made of interlocking puzzle pieces, and the brothers installed three large crosses and a thorn tree from Jerusalem on the grounds.

"The brothers were very eccentric," said program and events coordinator Doreen Jaekle, who recounted local lore that the duo would pay merchants $25 per month in order to go to their stores in long coats and appear to shoplift.

Minton recalled a tale that the brothers would invite friends over for dinner and put a crank under a guest's seat that would shock the person.

"They were pretty quirky, wild guys," Minton said, adding the two also hosted summer picnics and other events for the community, and that when they died they left the town a trust fund to maintain their property, along with the site itself.

The Present

The Boothe land has functioned as a park since the mid 1950s, but the buildings on the property remained shuttered for about 30 years, before gradually reopening with the formation of the Friends of Boothe Park, the receipt of grant funds and lots of volunteer work.

"Sweat equity brought things back to their present day state for being displayed," said Virginia Harris, president of the group's board.

While the park land is open year-round, the Boothe buildings are only available to visit Memorial Day to Labor Day. The past few summers, the museum hours have been noon to 4 p.m. Sundays, but the Friends of Boothe Park are hoping to open Saturday as well during the 2020 season, Minton said.

In addition to its visitor hours, the museum hosts an opening day celebration the third Sunday of May, which features the largest antique car show in the state. The museum also holds a pumpkin festival in the fall and offers a free program for school groups that is booked two years in advance.

Since the Boothes' deaths, at least two other buildings have been constructed on the property — a small observatory and a toy train museum, both of which are operated by independent groups.

The Friends of Boothe Park is an all-volunteer organization and runs day-to-day operations at the site, while the town-appointed Boothe Park Commission oversees the finances for the property.

For more information about visiting the Boothe Memorial Park & Museum or becoming a volunteer, email friendsofboothepk@gmail.com.

The Connecticut Hidden Gem series features out-of-the-way mom and pop restaurants, small specialty stores you may have never heard of, little-known historical markers or beautiful nature spots that may be a bit off the beaten path.