Sachem Apartments

255 Whitney, Sachem Apartments, is a dignified colonial revival building on the corner on Whitney Avenue and Humphrey Street.  It is five stories tall with a façade of brick and cast stone. Sachem Apartments was built circa 1920,[1] probably around 1925 judging from the land records, which show that by 1925 all parcels of land that now comprise the property were consolidated under the ownership of Charles P. Walker.[2]  Built after many of the other prominent buildings along the block, Sachem Apartments exhibits a style that is meant to harmonize with its neighbors including the adjacent colonial revival apartment, 245 Whitney.



The building has always been rental apartments – one and two bedrooms and studios – housing mainly individuals or couples associated with Yale University.[3] Its prime location near the quiet, picturesque East Rock neighborhood within easy walking distance of New Haven’s business district and Yale University’s science hill, make it particularly appealing for graduate students and members of the young corporate class.  Studio apartments begin at $825.00 per month, which is comparable to, if not slightly cheaper than, other apartments in the neighborhood. [4]



Before the Sachem Apartments were built, ownership of the block was split between several private individuals,[5] but the ownership of the building itself is slightly harder to trace.  In 1945 Marry Whittier sold the property to Stanwood Realty who presumably sold or lost it to First Savings Association of Connecticut.[6] The most recent land record entry shows that in 1983, First Savings Association of New Haven sold the building to Sachem Enterprises.[7]  However, building is currently owned by Hadley Inc.[8]  The New Haven land report documenting the exchange cites Sachem Enterprises as having its office at 37 Trumbull Street.  Interestingly, the 1973 Sanborn map marks the property at that address, “Trumbull Apartments,” the same name used in Hadley Inc.’s internet address (Figure 5).  Despite the name changes, it seems that the property has only had two separate owners over the last three decades: First Savings Association followed by Sachem Enterprises and its successor, Hadley Inc.



Although people associated with Yale University have consistently lived in the neighborhoods along Whitney Avenue, these residents have not always been students.  Before apartments like Sachem enterprises were built, only New Haven’s most prominent citizens could afford to live along Whitney Avenue. 255 Whitney is located in what is, historically, one of the most fashionable neighborhoods in the city. The parcel that is now 255 used to be part of the Richard Fellows estate and was surrounded by the homes of New Haven’s rich and famous, as shown on the 1888 Sanborn map (Figure 3).  For most of its history, the lands stretching along Whitney Avenue, formerly the Hartford Turnpike, were owned almost entirely by the Hillhouse and Whitney families.[9] The 1879 New Haven Wall Map shows the Stephen Whitney estate one block Northeast of Sachem Apartments and the Hillhouse Mansion and grounds stretching along the opposite side of the street (Figure 3). Just a few blocks further down were the mansions of Eli Whitney Jr., son of the inventor, and Frederick Brewster, whose Edgerton estate is now a New Haven public park.



Although the grand mansions have, for the most part, given way to new mixed usages, notably the laboratories and parking lot of Yale’s science hill, the area retains its history.  One surviving landmark of late-1800s/early 1900s grandeur is the New Haven Lawn Club. Located at 193 Whitney Avenue, the prestigious country club at one time owned the entire block, including 255 Whitney.  Sanborn maps through the years show the evolution of the club, and one can see the building grow even as the grounds give way to doctors’ practices and, of course, apartment buildings (Figures 4, 5, 6).



As one of the main arteries in and out of New Haven, Whitney Avenue holds centuries of rich history.  255 Whitney Avenue belongs to an important era of transition within that history.  The early 1900s saw the mansions and estates along the Avenue change as the city and university expanded.  New commercial institutions and multi-family housing stretched the urban limits further along the Avenue.  Built on what was once the exclusive stomping grounds of New Haven’s wealthiest citizens, Sachem Apartments has housed successive generations of Yale students and faculty comfortably, if not quite luxuriously, for nearly a century.



[1] Historic Resources Inventory: Buildings and Structures. Pg 1027.



[2] New Haven Land Records, vol. 1047, pg. 396-397. February, 1925.



[3] Sachem Enterprises – New Haven/East Rock area. Yale-New Haven Apartments. Hadley, Inc. http://www.trumbullenterprises.com/255whitney.html.



[4] Ibid.



[5] New Haven Land Records, vol. 3030, pg. 24-31. January, 1983.



[6] “$116,000 Paid for Whitney Ave.” 4/19/1945. Dana Archives, vol 60, pg. 86.



[7] New Haven Land Records, vol. 3030, pg. 24-31. January, 1983.



[8] Sachem Enterprises – New Haven/East Rock area. Yale-New Haven Apartments. Hadley, Inc. http://www.trumbullenterprises.com/255whitney.html.



[9] Brown, Elizabeth Mills. New Haven: A Guide to Architecture and Urban Design. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976.