John Rogers House (Branford, Connecticut)

The John Rogers House, located at 690 Leetes Island Road in the Route 146 Historic District, was constructed on a rectangular plan with its ridge parallel to the street. The house has a steeply pitched roof with minimal overhang at the cornice. Small dentil, moldings are featured below the cornice. Its brick center chimney straddles the ridge. It has a nine-window facade and a five-window gable. Windows have twelve-over-twelve sash except the attic window which has six-over-six sash. Its entry door is protected by a gabled hood with an arched ceiling, supported on large curvilinear brackets.

In addition to the house, there is a 1 ½ - story three-bay eave-entry bank barn. The ridge line of the barn runs north–south while its south gable-end faces Leetes Island Road that runs at an angle from the southwest to the northeast. The three-bay west eave-side of the barn is the main façade with the main entrance in the first bay from the north through a hinged pass-through door. The original entrance to the barn appears to be through a double-height wagon door entrance spanning the entire length of the first bay from the north as evident from the markings on the siding. The grade level along the west eave-façade of the barn gradually declines towards the south revealing the un-coursed mortared field stone masonry of the bank level. The low grade level along the main façade wraps the barn around the south gable-end to form the bank level which has two open bays. The gable attic lined by fascia board is separated from the rest of the gable-end by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line. The grade level along the three-bay east eave-side of the barn gradually rises towards the north along the un-coursed un-mortared field stone masonry of the bank. The east eave-side of the barn has an entrance off-centered towards the north through a hinged pass-through door and appears to have originally at least two window openings towards the south as suggested by the markings on the siding. The north gable-end of the barn has two six-pane windows with trim at the first-floor level. The gable attic lined by fascia board is separated from the rest of the gable-end by a distinct dropped girt siding divide line.

The John Rogers House was recorded on the WPA survey and dated 1810-15 by Elmer D. Keith. However, a well-researched and documented account of the house by David and Ann Clark puts the date of construction between 1750 and 1760. The house has had a marker on it for many years dating it 1765, but there does not appear to be any evidence to support this date.

The John Rogers House, a well-preserved and researched New England Colonial house, provides a significant architectural record of rural life in this eastern section of Branford in the mid-eighteenth century. It is historically significant for its association with the Rogers family, a family whose history in Branford goes back to the earliest period of settlement. It is a well-documented example in Branford's collection of colonial houses.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in New Haven County, Connecticut