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Monte Cristo Cottage

Monte Cristo Cottage (also known as Eugene O'Neill Summer House) was the summer home of American actor James O'Neill and his family, notably his son Eugene O'Neill. It is a National Historic Landmark located at 325 Pequot Avenue in New London, Connecticut.

Location

325 Pequot Avenue, New London, Connecticut

1888

Stick/Eastlake, Queen Anne

July 17, 1971[1]

July 17, 1971[2]

History[edit]

James O'Neill came to New London, Connecticut in June 1884 and purchased two plots of land on Pequot Avenue for his wife Ella's 27th birthday.[3] The property included a cottage built in the 1840s which he expanded. It is now a two-story house, three bays wide with a porch that wraps around the front to the north side. A tower with pyramidal roof stands just beyond the porch on the north side. It was the principal family residence during Eugene O'Neill's childhood.[4]


As a child, Eugene spent much of the year traveling with his actor father touring from city to city, but the family returned to this cottage each summer. It was named for the play in which his father starred in touring productions for many years. O'Neill probably wrote his first two plays here, and it is the setting of his plays Ah, Wilderness! and Long Day's Journey into Night.[4]

List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut

National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut

- official site at the O'Neill Theater

Monte Cristo Cottage