Named after the town where he was born, the Branford House was designed by his wife Nellie, who had studied architecture at the Sorbonne in Paris. English architect Robert W. Gibson carried out her plans. The exterior was done almost entirely in the Tudor style using granite quarried from the grounds in order to harmonize with the estate’s natural surroundings. The interior, on the other hand, was a melange of several different styles that Mrs. Plant wished to dabble in including Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, Classical, and even Flemish. Materials used for the interior ranged from rich woods such as mahogany, oak, and walnut, to imported stone and metals such as onyx, marble sandstone, bronze, and iron. Plant required the services of hundreds of European carvers to do the incredible ornamentation of fireplaces, pillars, and panels, each one being entirely different from the next. In some cases, the use of imported materials was not enough for the rich tastes of the Plants. In one case, an entire room was imported. It was dismantled from Cornwall, England, reassembled in the mansion, and became the Plant’s music room. Please see images from the Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA).

There were also many unique features that set the Branford House apart from its contemporaries. A two-story fireplace was the focal point of the house. Plant also put in an elevator to reach the many floors of his home. In the basement, Plant had a system to take hundreds of items of clothes on a conveyer around the fireplace until they dried. There are doors that lead to the outer wall and one can only guess their use. With his interest in horticulture, Plant made sure that his garden would exceed all others. Once again, Plant used the craftsmen from Italy to create literally tons of marble and granite carvings for the gardens on his estate. They created vast arrays of arches, grand staircases, checked marble paving reflecting pools, fountains, statues, pediments, and pink marble columns in what would be called an Italian revival garden style. He had a fondness for tropical plants and had Italian topsoil shipped to cover his land to ensure their well-being. To ensure that these plants would live through the harsh New England winters, all of these tropical plants would be dug up and housed in large conservatories. One such greenhouse stretched the length of the Branford House to Shennecossett Road. These also housed Plant’s flowers and plants that often won awards at New York flower shows.

Plant also used his money to improve the aesthetic quality of his estate in a rather unusual manner. He could smell the odor of rotten fish from his back door caused by the Quinnipiac Fertilizer Company, which was situated on nearby Pine Island. He solved this problem by buying the island and shutting down operations there. It became a playground of sorts in later years for his granddaughters, who loved to play in the over 500-tree orchard that was planted there.

Plant also developed beyond the Avery Point estate onto the Poquonnock Plains area with a model farm that was over 300 acres. He had a 22,250-foot cow barn, an area to raise prize poultry and other small livestock, and fields to grow various vegetables and fruits. He hired a staff of experts to keep everything running. When all was finished, Plant’s 70-plus-acre estate included the mansion, a boathouse, extensive greenhouses, gatehouse, stables, boarding house, tenant’s houses, superintendent’s house, plumbing shop, carpenter’s shop, storehouse, wharf, beach, lavish gardens, pond, and orchard. Even though the Plants only used the mansion for 30-60 days a year, there was a staff of 50 working year-round to keep up the estate. After his death in 1918, the estate was passed on to his son Henry, then to Plant’s daughter-in-law. It was reported that Branford House was eventually sold for $55,000 at auction in 1939. The furniture was then sold off and the mansion left. It soon came into the hands of the State of Connecticut.

From a quitclaim deed, it became the property of the United States Coast Guard in 1941. The mansion was used for administrative offices and family quarters for the commanding and executive officers. The west wing, which was the music room that was imported from Cornwall, was used as the station chapel until it was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1963. The grounds were transformed as well. Because of wartime concerns, the lush gardens were bulldozed into the sea to make room for barracks. Much of the marble is still on the rocky coast of the point. Pine Island was used for dynamite practice.