Esperanza

 house, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1830s construction, Colonial Revival (architecture)

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Historic house listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

- Built: c. 1835 (historic core of the house)
- Architect: Melvin Hathaway Hapgood (Hartford, CT - north wing only)
- Alterations: kitchen wing expansion (1874); large north and south wing additions (1893)
- Architectural style: Colonial Revival; Shingle-style detailing
- Areas of significance: Architecture; Social History
- Area: 18 acres
- Outbuildings: two guest cottages (1874); stable/carriage house (1897); summer kitchen
- Date added to NRHP: 4/11/2002

The original central portion of this house was Greek Revival in style, but was greatly expanded and remodeled in the Colonial Revival style in the 1890s. Julie Palmer Smith (1815-1883), the estate's owner beginning in the early 1870s, was an early feminist and romance novelist. After the home's first round of expansion and remodeling following Smith's purchase (work that was done with the proceeds from her novels), it became a social meeting spot for her Hartford-based artist and writer friends, in addition to being her permanent home and the place she did most of her writing. Notable guests included Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Gillette and George Inness. At its time of listing on the NRHP in 2002, the estate was still under the ownership of Julie Smith's descendants. The thick stand of trees between the house and Town Hill Road, which was mostly planted in the late 19th century, contains the largest Black Locust tree in Connecticut.

NRHP #02000334