Thomas Buckingham was one of the first settlers of Milford
, Connecticut in 1639 and the Buckingham House located at 61 North Street is said to have initially been built around 1640. The house has gone through several remodels and additions to the original fieldstone foundation so today it does not have the appearance of a First-Period 17th century structure.
The Buckingham House has acquired a collection of additions primarily from the 18th and 19th centuries that has fortunately left much of the most intriguing and best executed work from each of the previous periods. Occupying a large corner lot situated on a slight knoll in a residential area of Milford, the main house is a gable-roofed frame structure 2-1/2 stories high.
The home was occupied by the same family from 1639 until the late-19th century. The present structure was probably built in the early 18th century as the framing where visible shows the use of flared posts.
It was remodeled by Jehiel Bryan who married Esther Buckingham in 1753 giving it its current 18th century look. Jehiel Bryan was a patriot who went on to serve as a Captain in the Revolutionary War and the house being one of the first homes built in Milford together with its long history of association with Milford's founders gives the Buckingham House its historical significance.
The front exterior faade has very wide beaded sawn clapboards that gives it some of its greatest interest, unlike the rest of the house that has more modern clapboards. The roof has a slight overhang at the gables and the front cornice.
The front entranceway has a Dutch door with two rectangular raised panels above and crossed panels below. The central fireplace around which homes at the time were built is of fieldstone 16 inches at the base with brick above the roof with a separate flue for the rear room.
Originally, a lean-to kitchen was attached to the rear, and when the house was expanded, the fieldstone fireplace of the kitchen was built on to. At some point it was replaced with a two story ell now extending partway across the back. There is an additional large two-story wing at right angles to this ell that was added at a later date.
The Buckingham House located at 61 North Street in Milford and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 making it one of Milford, Connecticut's most important historic houses.