Capt. Mark Stoddard Farmstead
Description and history
Set down a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) drive on the west side of Vinegar Hill Road, the Stoddard farmstead consists of 130 acres (53 ha) of rural land, with a complex of four buildings: a Cape-style farmhouse, two barns, and an old privy. The farmhouse, oriented to face south, is a 1+1⁄2-story wood frame Cape, five bays wide, with a central chimney. A single-story ell, built at the same time, extends to the rear (north) of its main block. The nearby barn is also believed to be of 18th century construction, and is thus a rare survivor of the period. The interior of the house follows a typical central chimney plan, with the parlor and hall on either side of the chimney, and the kitchen behind it. Many of the wall finishes (plaster and woodwork) are original to its construction.
The house was built c. 1770, on land that probably belonged at one point to the Allyn family. Mark Stoddard, descended from one of Ledyard's early settlers, married into the Allyn family, another prominent local family, in 1768. Stoddard served in the American Revolutionary War, and one of his grandsons served in the American Civil War, as master of the USS Kearsarge during its defeat of the CSS Alabama. The property remained within the Stoddard family until 1919.