A rare look inside Connecticut’s Colonial-era homes

For anyone who has ever stopped to admire an old house and wonder what it looks like inside, HisTOURy’s Colonial Home Tour on June 20 offers a rare opportunity.

The four-hour guided tour will take participants inside four private colonial-era homes in Salisbury and Falls Village while highlighting another 20 historic properties along the route. Presented as part of HisTOURy’s series marking America’s 250th anniversary, the tour explores the architecture and history of northwestern Connecticut’s colonial settlement period.

Allison Casazza, HisTOURy’s tour research and production manager, said selecting homes involves a combination of research and experience.

“We have really well-trained eyes to say, ‘I think this would be a good house,’” she said. “And then we approach the homeowners and take it from there.”

Interior stops include the Samuel Robbins House, considered one of Falls Village’s finest examples of Federal-style architecture, and an 18th-century home once occupied by the sister of Noah Webster. The homes featured on the tour represent several architectural traditions from the colonial era, including vernacular farmhouses, Cape Cod houses and Federal-style dwellings.

“There’s a lot of symmetry in colonial architecture,” Casazza said. “The homes are much simpler in terms of how much ornamentation you can expect on them.”

Many of the architectural forms brought by settlers from England and Holland evolved in response to local conditions, she explained.

“They were bringing the styles that they knew,” Casazza said, “and then adapting them to local needs based on available materials and the harsher climate of the Northeast.”

Founded by preservationist Georgette Blau, HisTOURy focuses on cultural heritage tourism and historic preservation. The tours combine architectural history, local history and discussions about preservation with the opportunity to visit buildings that are rarely open to the public.

“What we do would fall into the category of cultural heritage tourism,” Casazza said. “We’re talking about these historic things with the purpose of promoting how much people understand them, how much people appreciate them, and hopefully planting the seeds to keep them thinking about preserving these places.”

The homeowners themselves are often part of the experience. Casazza said many participate simply because they enjoy sharing the homes they have restored and maintained.

“They’re all wonderful people that are just excited about living in a historic home,” she said. “They love it so much that they want to show it to a bunch of strangers.”

When homeowners are present, visitors hear firsthand about restoration projects, maintenance challenges and daily life in centuries-old houses.

“It means a lot to hear from them,” Casazza said.

The Colonial Home Tour runs from 2 to 6 p.m. on June 20. Information and tickets are available at histoury.org