HARTFORD, Conn. — The birthplace of abolitionist writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, which was disassembled and stored in trailers 20 years ago, has been put up for sale on eBay.
The move is the latest in the unusual history of preacher Lyman Beecher’s Litchfield, Connecticut, home, which was built in 1811 served as the childhood home for his 11 children and was later a sanitarium and then a dormitory for a private school.
It was for sold by the Forman School for $1 and deconstructed in 1997 by a buyer who planned to move it and turn it into a museum about the early life of the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” author. But those plans never came to fruition.
Antique dealer Art Papas acquired it two years ago. He says he’s offered the home to the Smithsonian and other historical organizations with no luck. He says he eventually may have to sell pieces of the house as antiques and the rest for building materials.