Introduction

The Captain Oliver Filley House, one of the more significant historic sites remaining in Bloomfield, was built in 1834, one year before the incorporation of the town. Captain Filley had the house, an unusual example of an all-stone Greek Revival with brownstone corbeling and lintels, built for his son Jay Filley.

In 1992, the Town of Bloomfield purchased the house and 140 acres from Milton Levine. At that time, the Wintonbury Historical Society became interested in preserving the structure and replaced the house roofing using $15,000 of its funds. In 1993 a resolution was passed by the Town Council, and in 1995 a 99-year lease agreement was signed leasing the house to the Society for rehabiltation and future use as the Society’s home.

A feasibility study was commissioned in May 1995 which determined the restoration of the Captain Oliver Filley House was a viable project. Eloise Marinos, Architect, was contracted in late 1997 to document and inventory the existing conditions and historic features. Together with the Building Committee the architect has generated designs for floor plans and exterior site plans. The Filley House is listed on the Connecticut state registry of historic places, and nomination to the National Register of Historic Places is in progress.

An exciting resolution passed by the Bloomfield Town Council in September 1998 resulted in a commitment by the Town of $500,000 to match funds raised by the Historical Society to help finance the rehabilitation project.

The goal of the Wintonbury Historical Society is to restore the exterior of the Captain Oliver Filley House, maintaining historical accuracy while rehabiltating the interior spaces to meet the goals of the project.

To this end, a serious fund raising effort encouraging townwide participation has been launched.

We have the opportunity to preserve a unique part of Bloomfield history. There is an urgency to this restoration, as continued disregard for repair will result in irreparable damage to this extraordinary historic property.

The project’s success will depend on each and every one of us.