Building Description Penfield Reef Lighthouse, Bridgeport Connecticut
Penfield Reef Lighthouse (Light List #0966), established in 1874, stands in five feet of water, marking a reef at the end of a shoal which extends southeastwardly from Fairfield Beach, Connecticut, into Long Island Sound. The structure consists of a squares two-story masonry dwelling with a mansard roof and a wood framed lighttower above, mounted on a cylindrical granite pier. The site also includes a boat landing which projects from the north side of the pier, and two flights of steps which connect the landing with the main deck above and a riprap breakwater below.
The cylindrical pier, standing on a riprap foundation 108 feet in diameter, is faced with rusticated granite blocks measuring five feet by two feet by two feet, tapering in nine courses from a diameter of forty-eight feet nine inches to forty-six feet six inches. The pier is filled with concrete above a base level of riprap,s except for a square cavity in the center of the upper portion which houses the cisterns cellar, and water closet. The granite blocks are laid in a pattern of alternating header-stretcher and stretcher courses. The top of the pier, originally covered with granite slabs, is presently surfaced with cement. The original railing is missing and has no replacement.
The dwelling, measuring twenty-eight feet, two inches on a side, rises centrally from the pier. Several details contribute to a Second Empire style for the lighthouse: the square plan, mansard roofs quoins, and foot scrolled window surrounds. The first floor walls are lined with brick and faced with rough faced, grey granite ashlar with slightly projecting quoins. A water table or base is defined by granite blocks of a larger scale. The projecting cornice at the base of the mansard roof supports wide, rain collecting gutters, from which pipes descended at the northwest and northeast corners of the structure through leaders into the cistern in the northeast corner of the cellar. Asphalt roofing presently covers both the lower slope of the mansard and the shaft of the lighttower which rises in the center of the south elevation. The lighttower is seven feet, six inches square at the level of the second storys and octagonal in plan at the level of the watchroom above. Surmounting the watchroom is an octagonal lantern with its surrounding gallery and conical roof.
On the first storys door and window openings are rectangular, embellished with a simple trim of granite blocks with dressed borders around rough-textured faces. At the window openings, a projecting sill upholds simple jambs under a peaked lintel. The south and west facades each contain three windows, while the north elevation contains one window and a kitchen door, and the east elevation, the main entrance and two windows. Door trim is similar to that at the window openings, here with the addition of quarter-round molding detail atop the lintels, which extend at either side to form ears. Neither door is original to the structure. The center window on the first story of the south or tower elevation is false, recalling the Georgian sense of symmetry. It contains an infill of granite ashlar, while the other windows on the first story each contain a six-over-six wood sash. On the second story of the south facade, the windows flanking the tower presently are covered over with sheathing. They originally held four-over-four wood sashes, and were ornamented with peaked and molded lintels, as well as suggestions of consoles and footscrolls. Other windows presently are blocked in with protective coverings.
The octagonal watchroom has three windows facing west, south and east, respectively. Cladding now conceals these openings. A ladder in the watchroom leads to a trap door in the floor of the octagonal lantern above. The lantern walls are composed of eight rectangular glass panes in their upper half and eight cast-iron sections in their lower half. The north, east and west sections, each contain a ventilator, while the south section contains a replacement door to the lantern gallery. The conical cast-iron lantern roof was once lined with zinc, and retains a spherical ventilator surmounted by a lightning-conductor spindle. Galvanized metal sheeting covers the lantern gallery decks applied over copper sheeting. The railing around the lantern gallery is supported diagonally, as illustrated in the 1874 Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board. This feature differs from the construction plans. A ladder leads from the north side of the lantern gallery to the mansard roof, which in historic illustrations 1s depicted with a sloping rather than a flat surface.
A prominent component of the interior is a winding stairway with turned balusters and newel and a graceful wood handrail. The stairway ascends in an oval from the entrance hall at the southeast corner on the first story to the rooms in the tower. Opening from the entrance hall on the first story are a sitting room, a kitchen and a supply room. On the second story are four bedrooms.
The focal plane of the lighting apparatus is recorded as 51 feet above water level. A bullseye lens, run by clockwork manufactured in the lamp shop at Tompkinsville, New York was in operation by 1889. The present light consists of a 1000 watt DCB-24 lantern, emitting a red signal every 60 seconds. A fog-signal operated by a fog detector sounds a blast every 15 seconds.
