Traveling east on Route 2 and looking north shortly before the Ledyard town line, one can see where a house and other buildings formerly stood. Many of these buildings have been removed in preparation for the future construction of a hotel in this area. The buildings and adjoining property, which at one time consisted of more than 100 acres, was owned by a number of generations of the Avery family.

Early Preston land records indicate that the property, along with "buidings, fruit trees and fencing thereon," was sold by Joshua Parke to Captain John Avery in 1755. When Captain Avery died in the late 1780s, the property was inherited by his eldest son, John Jr., who had been living there since his marriage to Mary Parke in 1752.

John Avery, Jr. was a farmer and goldsmith, having taken up the latter trade at a comparatively late period in life due to the partial failure of his health. He possessed a great deal of mechanical ingenuity as demonstrated by the fact that he developed the entire process of making a brass-wheeled clock without ever having learned the trade. From his account book covering the years 1762 to the time of his death in 1794, it is apparent that he was a "jack of all trades." Besides clocks, he made silver spoons, buckles, rings, buttons, hair combs, silver and gold necklaces, engraved a seal for the Town, made hinges, saddles, gun trimmings and many other small items. Mention is also made of his repair of watches, guns, scales, swords, spectacles, warming pans, brass kettles, tea pots and the like. It is also noted that John was a tailor and shoemaker, as charges for making shirts, trousers, suits, coats, stockings, shoes and boots frequently appear.

Four of John Avery, Jr.'s sons worked with their father to learn the trade of silversmith and clock maker. One of the sons, Samuel, learned the trade of silversmith, but turned his attention to other things and was the inventor of a nail-cutting machine. Probably all of the articles made in the father's shop bore the father's trademark, though perhaps made by one of the sons.

Robert Avery, the eldest son of John Avery Jr. by his second wife, was raised and died in the house where he was born. Following his father's death in 1794, Robert gave up the silversmith business and devoted himself to farming. He became a successful breeder of blooded stock and had a large flock of sheep. He was captain of the militia company, justice of the peace, and is said to have been the first man in the town to use a cast iron plow and to own a wagon.

Robert died in 1846 and the Avery property was divided among his children and his widow - Nancy Avery. When Nancy passed away in 1861, her portion of the property was divided among the surviving children and various nieces and nephews. Eventually, all of the property was acquired by Robert's second son, Ulysses Avery. Ulysses farmed the homestead until the time of his death in 1884. His widow, Lucy Anne Avery, remained on the farm and sold the property to Appleton Main in 1894.

To the point when Lucy Anne Avery sold the farm, the farm had been in the Avery family a total of 139 years (1755 - 1894). Ownership of the property was transferred a number of times before the Preston Historical Society acquired the house lot itself in August 2003. The house was subsequently disassembled and preserved for the purpose of being rebuilt in Litchfield County.

Sources: A Modern History of New London County, Connecticut, by Benjamin Marshall, published by Lewis Historical Publishing Company (1922).
"Preston in Review" Sponsored by Preston Historical Society, Inc. (1971).