Houses

The first of the arc of adjacent houses, at number 300, is an early nineteenth-century, one-and-one-half-story dwelling with doors at either end under narrow transoms. It was originally a duplex and probably workers' housing. Then, at number 302, is a standard Federal two-and-one-half-story house with center door, center hall, and off-center chimney, initially shingled, but clapboarded in 1930 (when the porch was probably added). Sometime after 1825 it belonged to Davis Metcalf, one of two Metcalf brothers who built the mill. The third house (number 304), which long housed both Dr. Halsey Walcott's office and his brother William's general store in addition to their shared residence, was built for Louis Arnold (1819–1924). A basic one-and-one-half-story Greek Revival house with a flank gable comes next (number 306). It provides a rare example of the attenuated Federal style edging into the motifs and format of the Greek Revival. Then, the largest house in the arc (number 308), a Federal house gussied up with a 1913 Neo-Colonial veranda and projecting centerpiece with Palladian window. The remodeling was commissioned by Neil MacKenzie, a twentieth-century owner of the Metcalf plant.

Another basic one-and-one-half-story, flank-gabled Greek Revival house, this for Dr. Addison Knight (1843; rear ell, twentieth century), at number 312, is the best of all. Instead of a portico, a porch supported on wide-spaced Doric columns stretches across the front, with a fine example of the basic Greek Revival sidelighted door. Angled toward Abbott Run is number 314, another one-and-one-half-story house with shed dormer (c. 1800), which received a tentative Greek Revival facelift (1837), especially to the entrance, with an attenuated quality which again suggests Federal sensibilities groping toward something new. Opposite this row, and close to the stream, is the oldest house in the village, a much-altered eighteenth-century, one-and-one-half-story gambrel (1745, 1773) at number 315, probably built by Amos Arnold. He operated a sawmill on the west side of the stream and a gristmill on the east bank, and gave the place its name. The adjacent barn is mid-nineteenth century.