The History of Our House (The Woods Estate)
By Dorothy M. Seeley
The Trumbull Historical Society stands on the homestead of one of Trumbull's first settlers, Abraham Nichols, who was farming here before 1700. The property, located between Huntington Turnpike and "along the proposed unimproved highway known as Mountain Hill Street [never built] to an iron post," remained in the Nichols family until 1974. The ten room "homestead house" was built in the early nineteenth century. Also on the estate were "a small tenement house of four rooms, [and] a one-story building, at present occupied as a blacksmith shop, with out building." Florence Nichols was the last of the family to occupy the house. She married George Woods in 1907, and after a few years in Bridgeport, the couple returned to her childhood home.
Her mother lived there with them.George Woods was president of Bridgeport's People's Bank. Neighbors described him as a perfect gentleman, always impeccably dressed, who was active in town and church affairs and in great demand as a speaker. He taught Sunday School at the Nichols Methodist Church. Mrs. Woods was not as outgoing as her husband. She did not share his passion for travel and entertaining, but she, too, participated in the life of the community. She contributed to the Church's clothing drives during World War I, always furnished pastries to sell at the annual fairs, and once a year opened her home for a church benefit. (She always served peach shortcake for dessert at these parties, but fussed and worried about what to do with all the peach pits and skins!) The couple's major interest, however, was in their house and gardens.
In 1926, Mr. Woods decided to make a park out of his property. He asked the caretaker and his family to vacate the little house on the grounds, and then razed it and the blacksmith shop. He then built a small cottage with a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and bath on the hill behind the house. The cabin was modeled on one Mrs. Woods fancied on Shelton Road. Although Mr. Woods thought they might sleep there and escape some of the traffic noise of Huntington Turnpike, the cottage was never used for that purpose. The other building he did was add an ell to the big house to hold Mrs. Woods' baby grand piano.
Construction of the ell meant that the great ox-heart cherry tree standing there had to come down. That was only the beginning of the landscaping that they ordered. Mr. Woods planted many trees that are bearing chestnuts today. He and his wife were avid readers of nursery catalogues, and sent off all over the world for unusual trees and plants. The gardens boasted dozens of varieties of daffodils, lilacs, flowering shrubs, yellow pines, witch hazel bushes, vibernum, spirea, azaleas, beds of perennials, and formal rose gardens. There were many wonderful trees, too: a spindlewood tree that was very rare, and loaded with pink berriers; Japanese cherries that were gorgeous when in blossom; Japanese maples; and a giant weeping beech. There was also a water garden in a little pond that was fed by the spring that ran down Mountain Hill, and a greenhouse where Mr. Woods grew flowers and vegetables. Although many of the bulbs and shrubs are gone now, the flowering trees still make the grounds a treat for the eye in the spring. Llewellyn Hughes was their gardner for many years; Walter Schiffer took over when he retired.
George Woods died in August, 1972; his wife died one year later. Their property was left to the Nichols Methodist Church, but as the church already had a parsonage and did not need the land, the land was sold to the Town of Trumbull in 1974 with the financial aid of a Federal Open Space Grant. In August, 1978, the Town leased the house to the Society, which is striving to maintain it as its original owners would have wished.
This story was made possible by interviewing Mrs. Rosalie Penczer Reynolds of Monroe, Mrs. Evelyn Johnson of Shelton, Mrs. Marjorie Linley, Mr. Walter Schiffer, Mr. Jack Dempsey of Nichols, Mr. E. Merrill Beach of Bridgeport and by hearing a taped interview with Llewellyn Hughes arranged by Mrs. Barbara Maslen.
Her mother lived there with them.George Woods was president of Bridgeport's People's Bank. Neighbors described him as a perfect gentleman, always impeccably dressed, who was active in town and church affairs and in great demand as a speaker. He taught Sunday School at the Nichols Methodist Church. Mrs. Woods was not as outgoing as her husband. She did not share his passion for travel and entertaining, but she, too, participated in the life of the community. She contributed to the Church's clothing drives during World War I, always furnished pastries to sell at the annual fairs, and once a year opened her home for a church benefit. (She always served peach shortcake for dessert at these parties, but fussed and worried about what to do with all the peach pits and skins!) The couple's major interest, however, was in their house and gardens.
In 1926, Mr. Woods decided to make a park out of his property. He asked the caretaker and his family to vacate the little house on the grounds, and then razed it and the blacksmith shop. He then built a small cottage with a living room, bedroom, kitchenette, and bath on the hill behind the house. The cabin was modeled on one Mrs. Woods fancied on Shelton Road. Although Mr. Woods thought they might sleep there and escape some of the traffic noise of Huntington Turnpike, the cottage was never used for that purpose. The other building he did was add an ell to the big house to hold Mrs. Woods' baby grand piano.
Construction of the ell meant that the great ox-heart cherry tree standing there had to come down. That was only the beginning of the landscaping that they ordered. Mr. Woods planted many trees that are bearing chestnuts today. He and his wife were avid readers of nursery catalogues, and sent off all over the world for unusual trees and plants. The gardens boasted dozens of varieties of daffodils, lilacs, flowering shrubs, yellow pines, witch hazel bushes, vibernum, spirea, azaleas, beds of perennials, and formal rose gardens. There were many wonderful trees, too: a spindlewood tree that was very rare, and loaded with pink berriers; Japanese cherries that were gorgeous when in blossom; Japanese maples; and a giant weeping beech. There was also a water garden in a little pond that was fed by the spring that ran down Mountain Hill, and a greenhouse where Mr. Woods grew flowers and vegetables. Although many of the bulbs and shrubs are gone now, the flowering trees still make the grounds a treat for the eye in the spring. Llewellyn Hughes was their gardner for many years; Walter Schiffer took over when he retired.
George Woods died in August, 1972; his wife died one year later. Their property was left to the Nichols Methodist Church, but as the church already had a parsonage and did not need the land, the land was sold to the Town of Trumbull in 1974 with the financial aid of a Federal Open Space Grant. In August, 1978, the Town leased the house to the Society, which is striving to maintain it as its original owners would have wished.
This story was made possible by interviewing Mrs. Rosalie Penczer Reynolds of Monroe, Mrs. Evelyn Johnson of Shelton, Mrs. Marjorie Linley, Mr. Walter Schiffer, Mr. Jack Dempsey of Nichols, Mr. E. Merrill Beach of Bridgeport and by hearing a taped interview with Llewellyn Hughes arranged by Mrs. Barbara Maslen.