Ephraim Smith Historic Home
With the river on your right, you can see our next attraction on your left. This private residence was built in 1757, by Ephraim Smith. The house was originally built as a white clapboard saltbox, with a center stone chimney, and 12 over 12 windows, with a large comfortable front porch. for many years, it was used as an inn and stagecoach stop on the route to Albany. The outside basement door shows proof of this, in that it is four feet wide and hinges are 29 inches long. The inside steps at this entrance show evidence that many a keg of "cider" was rolled through here. Through the years, stories and evidence have been passed down that tell of local Indians stopping for food and fresh water from the well in the back yard, leaving trinkets in trade. the Indians traveled past here on the river or on foot through the surrounding hills. |
Optional Stop - Go 1.6 miles east and turn left on Buckingham Road as you enter Derby. Go .3 miles and turn right on Derby Neck Road. Go .4 miles to McConney's Farm barns and a very scenic view of the Housatonic river below. or Go about 3 miles east on Rt. 34. You will pass McConney's Farm Stand on your left and then Pink House Cove fishing area on your right with some great views of the Housatonic River. Take a left on Lakeview Terrace. Bear left at the fork in the Terrace. At stop sign turn left on Hawthorne Avenue and then left back into the Osborne Homestead Museum. For this virtual tour, we will first go the the farm and the barns with the view of the Housatonic river below. |
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