William H. Moseley was a “hotel man” from New Haven when he built this house on Laurel Way about 1890. He and his brother Seth were the proprietors of the popular New Haven House and two hotels in New York: Hotel Somerset at West 47^th Street and Hotel Colonial at West 81^st Street. Moseley named his summer home Airly Beacon, taken from the romantic poem by Charles Kingsley, British poet and clergyman: “Airly Beacon, Airly Beacon, O the pleasant sight to see Shires and towns from Airly Beacon, While my love climb’d up to me.” At the time, Norfolk was known to be the highest elevation in Connecticut reached by the railroad, and its clear mountain air and fresh spring water drew visitors, many of whom like Moseley decided to make it their summer home

-Text by Ann Havemeyer
– Photo courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society