Built in 1836 for Ralph Hardesty at a cost of $500, the original stone portion of this two-story house measures 40 by 22 feet. Little is known of Hardesty except that he was listed in the 1850 Census at age 43. Constructed of local sandstone with a slate roof, the house features a symmetrical facade with a central doorway and is the first and only stone house in Norwich. Its windows still have their original lintels and sills. The sandstone blocks on the front and east walls are dressed, or finished, while the stone on the west and rear walls is rubble stone, or unfinished. Like most houses, it has decorative elements on the front and on the side visitors see as they approach. Although stone was a rare building material for a house in this area, the Hardesty House is an I-House, a very popular type of nineteenth-century building. An I-House has two rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs, and some, like this one, have central hallways with a staircase. Though it has only four rooms, it looks larger, offers a wide view from the second-floor windows, is more compact than a four-room one-story house, is easier to heat in winter, and offers better ventilation in summer. I-Houses are found in the Midwest as well as in the Mid-Atlantic states.