Lakeville, Connecticut

Lakeville is in the extreme northwest corner of Connecticut. It is one of the most idyllic hamlets in Connecticut. Water power from Lake Wononscopomuc was available to develop a prosperous cutlery industry through the Holley Manufacturing Co. in the period 1844 - 1930s. Pictured (front and side) is the 1866 Holley Mfg. Co. (8 Holley St.) in Italianate style, with a clerestory monitor roof, round-arched and segmental arched windows, and cross-gabled square cupola. The first pocket knives in the U.S. were made here. The Connecticut Western Railroad passed through Lakeville and the Lakeville Station (1871) is pictured (7 Allen St.), featuring large imbricated brackets with turned spoke motif and eaves edged with scroll sawn molding.

Millerton Rd. (Rt. 44) features 3 historic structures, the John Hubbard House (1830), the Farnham Tavern (1759), and the Holley-Williams House (1808). Hubbard House is Federal style, with pedimented gable with molded demi-lune window with keyed arch. The Farnham Tavern is vernacular style (2nd floor porch). The Holley-Williams House is Federal style, one of the finest examples in northwester Connecticut, with two story Ionic columns, pedimented gable, modillion cornice, and molded demi-lune window with keyed arch.

More modern mansions circa 1920 can be found on Elm St. fronting the Lake. In the early 1950s, the well-known Belgian-French writer Georges Simenon resided for several years in Shadow Rock Farm, a large house in Lakeville. The town forms the background for Simenon's novel "La Mort de Belle" ("The Death of Belle"), depicting its small town quiet life being shattered by the (fictional) murder of a young girl. It was later adapted to film, released as Passion of Slow Fire, or The End of Belle.