Standing majestically on the ridge line three blocks north of Waterbury, Connecticut’s Town Green is the Benedict-Miller House, a visual focal point of this historic neighborhood. The colorful three-story mansion is built on a monumental scale with multi-pediment quilt work, diagonal criss-cross boards, and ornate stick detailing. It was built in 1879 for Charles Benedict, whose company at the time was the largest manufacturer of brass appliances and fixtures in America, as well as the mayor of Waterbury.
The Benedict-Miller House is a Queen Anne/Stick style mansion designed by the architectural firm of Palliser, Palliser & Co, which specialized in Gothic and Queen Anne cottages and designed several houses for PT Barnum. The south-facing view from the top of the hill overlooks the city of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley with many large, mature maples and landscaping crowning its hilltop location.
Benedict-Miller’s front facade with its multiple gables, railings, and rib detailing is dominated by the use of contrasting colors, materials, and a free-flowing, asymmetrical design. The three-story property has eighteen projecting gables rising to steep peaks along with four chimneys that give the Benedict-Miller House a strong vertical and upward quality in a well-integrated design executed on a grand scale.
One of the most elaborate houses built by Palliser, Palliser & Co, the Benedict-Miller House helped popularize the pattern books they published in the late 19th century in America. George Palliser was an English builder who came to Bridgeport in 1873 with the intention of making well-designed, well-built houses affordable for people who couldn’t afford to hire an architect. Palliser developed the idea of selling house plans priced according to size and finish, along with advice on plumbing, painting, and hardware.
Although Benedict-Miller House was one of Palliser, Palliser and Co.’s most elaborate homes, it gained statewide attention during construction for its new “sensible” aesthetic promoted by the architects. The first floor is made up primarily of pressed red brick and terracotta that contrast in color and texture with the floors above, which was a common feature of the Queen Anne style of architecture. The second floor is vertical and horizontal boards that are the structural members of the frame of the house. The third floor has scalloped wood shingles with patterned millwork on the gables creating a house rich in ornate detail and contrasting colors.
However, not long after its completion, Charles Benedict died suddenly of pleurisy in 1881 after returning from a trip to England and the accounting of his affairs indicates that he may not have finished moving into the new house. His married daughter and his widow moved into the house.
In 1889, the estate was subdivided and the house was sold to Charles Miller, president of Miller and Peck, a thriving retail store specializing in dry goods and rugs.
The City of Waterbury acquired Benedict-Miller House in 1942 to provide a permanent university campus in the city and as an incentive for the University of Connecticut to remain in Waterbury. From 1955 to 2002 it was the administrative and faculty offices of the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury campus when it was sold to Yeshiva Gedolah, a school for Orthodox Jews.
Its massive scale and location cresting the ridgeline three blocks north of Waterbury City Park make Benedict-Miller House one of the most significant historic homes in Waterbury, Connecticut.