October 28, 2025

By Jack Sheedy
Photograph Courtesy of Warren Historical Society

Discounting the Thomas Painter House (c. 1686) that was moved from New Haven to Litchfield in 1959, Warren’s Marsh-Whitlock House (1738) claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously occupied house built in Litchfield County.

An allotment on what is now Brick School Road was sold by Elisha Williams to Ebenezer Marsh early in 1738, after which Marsh built a post-medieval saltbox with a steeply pitched, side-gabled roof, says Heather Forstmann, curator/town historian of the Warren Historical Society. It likely was originally unpainted. A large central stone chimney is still a prominent feature.

The next long-term tenant/owner was Samuel Whitlock in 1754, Forstmann says. “Whitlock’s family retained ownership well into the 19th century.”

Whitlock probably updated the oven and hearth, according to a report by Fred and May Hill, who owned it in the 1980s. The Hills helped determine it was the oldest house in Warren, and they gave it the name it bears today.

The Hills also passed on a legend that a woman named Granny Carey, who owned the house from 1937 to 1969, would bring her horse, Connie, inside on cold nights so she could warm herself with the mare’s body heat. 

The Marsh-Whitlock House sits on 28-plus acres with a pond, walking paths, and detached barn, according to a 2024 real estate listing. It is currently owned by an entity identified as 1120 Trust, Forstmann says.