Branchville Railroad Tenement
Description and history
The Branchville Railroad Tenement is located in southern Ridgefield, a short way southeast of the Branchville station on the Danbury Line. It occupies a prominent position overlooking the junction of Portland Avenue and West Branchville Road. It is a vernacular three-story wood frame structure, with a clapboarded exterior and gabled roof. Its most prominent feature is its two-story shed-roof porch, extending the full width of the main facade.
The tenement was built in stages between about 1853 and 1905. Its earliest incarnation was as a storage facility for the railroad station, to which two stories of residences were added to houses workers on the railroad. Following completion of the railroad, the building was converted into a hotel in 1880, at which time the two-story porch was built and the interior was redecorated. This was apparently an unsuccessful venture, and in 1905 it was converted to a saloon and multifamily residence, with an addition expanding its size to the south.