Speranza
At 1135 West Broad Street in Stratford is an impressive Italianate villa,
considered to be one of Connecticut’s best examples of the style. It was built
in 1854 on the site of the oldBenjamin Tavern where Washington and Lafayette are
said to have dined on September 19, 1780. They were served potatoes, which were
then a rare delicacy. Col. Aaron Benjaminserved in most of the major battles of
the Revolutionary War. His son, Frederick A. Benjamin, became a successful New
York merchant. In 1852, Frederick A. Benjamin retired and returned to the old
homestead in Stratford, which he soon replaced with a new mansion, designed by
architect Frederick Schmidt. Benjamin’s son, Arthur Bedell Benjamin(d. 1914),
was a prolific photographer and a yachtsman who owned the steam
yacht Continental.
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