A Legacy That Lives to Serve Others

The center of Armsmear is a handsome 1856 Italianate mansion built by industrialist Samuel Colt for his bride, Elizabeth Hart Jarvis Colt. Samuel Colt lived for only five years after his marriage to Elizabeth, but she lived on at Armsmear until her death in 1905. She made her mark as a civic, cultural, and business leader.

A foresighted philanthropist, she left her home and much of her estate to provide a community for women in need. These were women who Elizabeth described as "widows and orphans of the Episcopal clergy and other refined and educated gentle women of the church."