Pratt-McDaniels-LaFlamme House

The Pratt-McDaniels-LaFlamme House is located on the west side of South Street (United States Route 7), south of downtown Bennington, between Prospect and Merson Streets. The property includes the main house, housing three residential units, and a detached outbuilding that has been adapted to house a fourth unit. The main house is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure with a gable-fronted main block and a two-story ell extending north that is covered by a hip roof. The building corners are pilastered, and there are also pilasters between the three front-facing bays of the main block. The main block's gable is fully pedimented, with a Federal style fan at its center. One entrance is found in the main block's rightmost bay, with framing pilasters and entablature with cornice. The front facade of the ell has four bays of windows, with two entrances set between. The left unit has a flat-roof porch extending across it, supported by square posts.[2]

The house was probably built about 1798, the year in which Stephen Pratt purchased 100 acres (40 ha). Pratt by then already had a large family. It remained in agricultural use until the late 1830s, when the house was subdivided off and sold to his granddaughter Erin and her husband, Thomas McDaniels. McDaniels is believed to have added the north wing, with its northern end probably serving as his business office. He was a businessman and banker, underwriting business ventures in Bennington's increasingly industrial economy. The house grew further in the second half of the 19th century, with several wings added, and probably housed several generations of the family. It was purchased in 1913 by John LaFlamme, whose extended family lived there, formally subdividing the building into four units. It was owned by the LaFlamme family into the 1990s. It has since been rehabilitated, with some of its additions demolished, and its units used for low-income housing.[2]

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Bennington County, Vermont