The Mather House

The Mather House, an historic house on High Street, situated between the First Congregational Church and Suffield Academy’s LeGare Library, has new owners. With their careful renovation, the 1794 house will be rejuvenated to last another 200 years. The new owners are Karen and Ted Markham, who came to town four years ago. Ted had previously lived in Suffield for 25 years, then moved away; but he always wanted to return. The Markhams recently bought the Mather house from the First Congregational Church. When the church received the house as a donation by the Mather sisters, who once lived in the house, it was converted into apartments. The Markhams will keep it as a multi-family house, but are updating it while keeping as many historic features as they can, such as wainscoting, paneling, hardware and wood floors.

The house has revealed some of its past. Hidden in the walls, the Markhams found newspapers from 1893, a candle and a bonnet. The bonnet is probably from the same time as the newspaper but harkens back to Timothy Swan, the house’s original owner, who was a hatter.

A beautiful fan-shaped window with matching sidelights at the front door interests Karen. She hopes that Christine Ritok, the King House Museum Curator, can tell her more about the design. Other fan-shaped windows appear under the eaves on the north and south sides of the house. In one of the rooms, the fireplace has such an ornate surround that Karen is convinced the room was a family’s best parlor. A china cupboard, probably installed in the house years after the house was built, is another beautiful feature.

Ted believes that the addition located behind the house was once an open-air blacksmith workshop. The room’s huge hearth features a metal door to a recessed area which may have served as a kiln. Blackened circles decorating the floor may indicate that hot pots were set down. Are the circles more proof that the room was once used by a blacksmith? It’s an educated guess. There is also evidence that a fire damaged the walls. At some point, perhaps after a fire, the smithy was encased and attached to the house. If only the walls could talk!

Karen and Ted own several multi-family properties but this one is their favorite and the oldest. Some old houses are said to have a resident ghost. The Markhams say a ghost is a feature the house doesn’t have.

To view the house’s renovation journey, visit thematherhousesuffield on Instagram.