Name/Title
Branford House Foundation ScrapbookEntry/Object ID
2026.046.001Scope and Content
Scrapbook album, 12"x14", red cover, containing correspondence and photographs related to the Branford House Foundation and the Branford House property at Avery Point, Groton. The album contains a written and photographic history of the house with details about the financer, designer, architect, builders, structure and interior design. Includes a series of black and white photographs of the interior and exterior of the Branford House from its construction in 1902 through 1982. Also includes photographs of the Branford House gardens and outbuildings, Morton Plant and the Plant family, the Griswold Hotel, Morton Plant's yachts, Henry Bradley Plant's Florida resort and the entrance to the Coast Guard Training Station.Context
The Branford House was the summer home of Morton Freeman Plant, built at Avery Point in 1902-1903. The 31-room house was designed by Plant's wife, Nellie, and English architect Richard W. Gibson. It was constructed with granite that was quarried locally and surrounded by extensive gardens and numerous outbuildings. The property remained in the Plant family until it was sold at auction in 1939. The property was later owned by the United States Coast Guard and used as a training station until 1967, when it was transferred to the State of CT and put to use as a satellite campus for the University of Connecticut. By the early 1980s the house had fallen into disrepair and the State began to consider selling the property to a private developer.
The Branford House Foundation, Inc. was founded and registered with the State of CT on April 23, 1982, with the express intention of restoring the house and keeping Avery Point open to the public. The organization grew out of a campaign organized by the Concerned Citizens Committee, which brought the issue to the public's attention, started a petition that amassed over ten thousand signatures and successfully nominated the mansion and outbuildings to the National Landmarks Registry of Historic Places.Collection
Gadbois CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2026.046Source or Donor
Gadbois, MaryAcquisition Method
DonationLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
ScrapbookNomenclature Secondary Object Term
Print, PhotographicNomenclature Primary Object Term
AlbumNomenclature Primary Object Term
CorrespondenceNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
MemorabiliaNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsSearch Terms
Avery Point, Avery Point Lighthouse, Griswold Hotel, Branford Farms