Plains Road, Moodus, Connecticut

 


Just in time for Halloween, let's ramble around Moodus, Connecticut, the home of mysterious rumbling noises and its very own ghost town.

But first, let's peek at this parsonage for sale. Built in 1834, this Greek Revival home was built a decade before the Baptist church across the street was constructed.


And apparently, the view hasn't changed:

{Google maps}

The church bought the parsonage in  in 1868 for $2000. Today, though, the church is defunct. It was listed for sale in 2012 and again early last year, and still appears to need a buyer.

Meanwhile, the parsonage has fared a little bit better and has been restored over the last ten years:


It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in 1,771 square feet. It also has a lovely lilac living room:


If it were mine, I'd dress it like this, one of my favorite lovely lilac living rooms:


Sarah Richardson designed my other favorite, if you're curious. Mark's design won out over Sarah's, though, because, like whoever restored this home, he felt that a lilac room led naturally...


...into a blue one...


...and he would want us to furnish it like this (which goes well with the existing artwork anyway):


Let's take a look at the rest of house before we talk about the mysterious rumbling noises and ghost town.









Moodus is a village in East Haddam, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River. It was named Moodus from the Native American name Matchitmoodus, which means 'the place of noises.' Those noises are micro earthquakes centered around a cavern near Mount Tom. They manifest themselves with thunder-like rumbling or loud popping sounds. You can imagine why the Native Americans and early Puritan settlers thought they were a pretty big deal.

As for the ghost town, it's another case of a lot of sound and not much fury. 


Otherwise known as Johnsonville Village, it's a 1960's tourist attraction of Victorian houses and buildings on 62 acres. Because of zoning issues and a lack of sewers, it wasn't super useable and became abandoned for many years. It was during that time it got a nifty reputation for being haunted, which gave it a little boost on the real estate market.

Fortunately, the Moodus parsonage doesn't need a boost like that to appeal to buyers. The Old House Dreams listing is here.

If for some reason you're looking for a nearby white Greek Revival house that looks just like it, look herehere, or here.


{The history of this particular house is here.}






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