A Brief History of Holleywood
by John Holley Rudd, great-great grandson of original owner*
1850-1853
Alexander Hamilton Holley works on and oversees the preparation of the land and building of his house.
Nov. 11, 1853
Alexander Hamilton Holley moves into his new house.
1859-1860
Alexander Hamilton Holley oversees alterations to ground floor which enlarge the rooms and move the circular
staircase from the front to the back of the house. Rudimentary indoor toilets are built on the first floor.
A cistern is added to the third floor for collection of rainwater which drains to the kitchen.
This augments the water supply from the well that had been dug as part of the original construction.
October 2, 1887
Alexander Hamilton Holley dies. Sarah Coit Day Holley (his third wife) continues to live in the house.
March 23, 1899
Sarah Coit Day Holley dies.
Maria Coffing Holley (their daughter) and William Beardslee Rudd (Maria's husband)
continue to live in the house until their deaths in 1914 and 1901, respectively.
1914
Holley/Rudd estate divided among the four surviving children.
Charles Edward Rudd inherits Holleywood and 8 acres of land as his share.
1915
Charles Edward Rudd engages architect Gerard Fountain to bring the facilities up to date.
This work included a new roof, complete cleaning and repainting of the interior woodwork on the first two floors,
enlarging the second floor bedrooms, updating the plumbing and adding electricity.
It is believed that Holleywood is the second building (after the Holley Manufacturing Company) in Lakeville to have electricity.
1940
Charles Edward Rudd replaces coal burning furnace with an oil burning one.
January 10, 1950
Charles Edward Rudd dies. Emma Sands Reese Rudd (his wife) continues to live in the house until her death April 17, 1965.
1967-2009
John Krom Rudd (their only son) makes and oversees major repairs and improvements to the house, including new plumbing (1967) and electrical systems (1971), new oil burning furnace (1969), complete interior decorating (1972-73), replacing the flooring of the west porch (1979), connecting to the town sewer line (1983), replacing the roof (1993), replacing the oil storage tank for the furnace (1996), replacing the furnace (2008) and replacing the west porch (2009).
January 23, 2010
John Krom Rudd dies.
*sourced from "The Building of Holleywood" Parts I and II by his father, John Krom Rudd