Prospect Avenue “Chateau” In Hartford Sold For $2.2 Million

The French Country style estate at 1060 Prospect Ave. in Hartford has new owners. Photo by Kenneth R. Gosselin/kgosselin@courant.com

The governor is getting a new neighbor.

The French chateau-like, 9-bedroom estate at 1060 Prospect Ave. in Hartford’s West End sold last week for $2.2 million, city records show, below the listing price $2.4 million but still well above the most recent sale price of $1.25 million in 2005.

The 17-room, 7,200-square-foot mansion was completed in 1914 in the French country house style for Charles S. Stearns, according to a story in The Courant written shortly after the house was built. Stearns was a local businessman who built and owned the Stearns Building at 73-77 Pratt St. in downtown Hartford, records at the Hartford Preservation Alliance show.

“It is the only example of French Chateau with a mansard roof in the city that I know of,” Tomas Nenortas, the alliance’s associate director, told me.

Since 2005, the 1.9-acre estate has been owned by Paul R. and Mary C. Fox. The new owners are Jonathan D. and Kelly D. Jarvis.

Most of the homes along the nearby stretch of Prospect Avenue — once known as “Prospect Hill” — are in the Georgian Revival style, most notably the Governor’s Residence at 990 Prospect Ave, and the Tudor Revival style, Nenortas said.

The June, 1914 story in The Courant reported the three-story house cost $50,000 to build and was rendered in brick covered by stucco.

The story described the entry this way: “The large entrance hall is one of the attractive places within and contains a beautiful hand carved mantel of Carrara marble imported from Italy. There is a white marble floor and an eliptical staircase of white marble with an ornamental balustrade of iron work.”

One longtime owner was Henry S. Redfield, a member of the brokerage firm Stedman and Redfield, the alliance said.

The home’s architect was Charles O. Whitmore, who was best known for designing West End estates, including three others on Prospect Avenue. He also designed the Center Church House on Gold Street in downtown Hartford.