The 2008 Portland, CT Historical Society calendar has arrived. This year, 12 Queen Anne style houses in Portland are featured. Queen Anne's are known fro steep cross-gabled roofs, towers, vertical windows, projecting wings, porches, balconies and multiple chimneys. They were a break from the simple square or rectangular Colonial style, and encouraged the growth of architecture to design these embellishments. One home included in the calendar was built by brownstone quarry magnate Erastus Brainard for his 3 middle-aged sisters, Mary, Corrine and Catherine in 1888. Built of brownstone, it was glowingly described in local papers as a design "in advance of anything ever before erected in town." Calendar copies will be available for $8 at the Ruth Callander House, Portland, CT on Sunday, Jan. 6, and are also available at the Town Clerk's office, the library, by mail to P.O. Box 98, Portland, CT 06480, or by calling 860-342-0303