It’s been almost a year, but U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy owns property in the state of Connecticut again.
Murphy and his wife, Cathy Holahan, sold their Cheshire house in September 2019 quicker than expected and spent much of the year searching for a new home in the Nutmeg State.
Murphy, like other lawmakers with young children, keeps his main residence in Washington, because that’s where he spends a majority of his time. He isn’t up for re-election until 2024. When he’s been back in Connecticut on the weekends he has split his time between his parents’ home in Wethersfield and the family’s summer home in Old Lyme where he registered to vote.
Last year, when he was being criticized for not owning property in the state, Murphy said he and Holahan have a thing for old homes and would be looking in the Greater Hartford area.
They finally found a place in March, and then the pandemic hit, which postponed the closing until June.
They purchased a house on Charter Oak Place that was previously owned by Ken Kahn, head of the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom home is 3,392 square feet and sold, according to public records, for $355,000.
The home was built around 1875 by Col. Charles Harvey Northam, a merchant and banker. It is one of several large, Victorian-era homes on the street, which are all on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It makes a lot of sense. It’s within walking distance of my office and it’s 10 minutes from family,” Murphy said.