In June 2025, we toured Prospect Avenue! A broad street of grand homes, the east side lies within the Hartford city limits, across the street is West Hartford—in the late 19th century and into the 20th, the well-to-do built their fashionable homes on both sides. Situated along a high ridge, it was named for the panoramic view of the city and Connecticut River that could be enjoyed from the avenue. Today, Prospect Avenue remains graced with these historic homes, reflecting the prosperity of Hartford’s Gilded Age.

We saw historic homes that once belonged to notables like Jacob and Miriam Fox of the iconic G. Fox department store family; Gilbert and Louise Heublein, responsible for the landmark Heublein Tower in nearby Simsbury; and founders of the Hartford insurance industry.

We also had the pleasure of seeing homes designed by notable architects including Palliser and Palliser, Hapgood and Hapgood, Isaac A. Allen Jr., and Smith and Bassette!