Octavius J. Jordan

Octavius Jordon was the first trained architect to reside in Hartford. The 1850 census lists him, age 25, birthplace London; his wife, Margaret, age 23; and their son, Thomas B., nine months, birthplace New York. What brought the young family to Hartford is unknown.

Jordan designed in the Gothic Revival, Second Empire, and Italianate styles. Among his best known works are four Picturesque villas in the manner of A. J. Downing and Calvert Vaux. Coming from England, Jordan might have had the benefit of the same sources from Picturesque as did Vaux, whose drawings for Downing's books did much to popularize the mode in the United States.

(Dave Ransom, "Biographical Dictionary of Hartford Architects," The Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin Vol. 54 No. 1-2 (Winter-Spring 1989), p. 61-62.)