With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
71 Riverside Road, Newtown
- Sanford-Curtis-Thurber House
- James Thurber
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Humorist James Thurber and family (wife Althea and daughter Rosemary) lived here from 1931 until their divorce in 1935.
- Description of Significance/Historical Narrative
- Built c.1800 for one of the early settlers of Newtown, the Sanford-Curtis-Thurber House’s greatest significance lies in its association with the celebrated American writer and humorist, James Thurber. Thurber lived in two other houses in Connecticut, a brief summer rental in Silvermine, and a house in West Cornwall in 1945 with his second wife, but the Sanford-Curtis-Thurber House was the first house that Thurber ever owned, and the one where he did some of his best known work at a time when it was clear that his future as a writer was secured and he had become a household name in American literary and journalism circles.
- Date of Construction
- c. 1800
- Historic Designation(s)
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- National Register District
- National Register Individual}file_download