News

‘A Beacon of New Canaan History’: Closely Watched Valley Road Antique Hits Market at $2.25 Million

By |

A ca. 1750 home that New Canaan open space advocates and historic preservationists have been watching closely for several months hit the market this week at $2.25 million. The “Grupe-Nichols-Brown House” at 1124 Valley Road—itself a well-preserved antique structure—also sits on 4.43 acres adjacent to a large, accessible New Canaan Land Trust property that fronts Grupes Reservoir. It’s owned by the first taxing district of Norwalk. Chris Schipper, president of the Land Trust, called the house “a beacon of New Canaan history.”

“It has stood there for over 250 years and is at the center of what was once a 200-acre farm that extended all the way across the Wilton line, so it is definitely an important preservationist property,” Schipper said.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

By |

Quick update on the closely followed renovation and restoration of the famed former Huguette Clark estate on Dan’s Highway: The New Canaan Building Department issued a permit Jan. 12 for a 60-by-22-foot in-ground pool. The estimated $105,000 job will be completed by Signature Pools of Norwalk, according to the permit. ***

Two of New Canaan’s most prominent and effective nonprofit organizations—the New Canaan Land Trust (membership info here) and New Canaan Community Foundation (information on giving here)—held their annual meetings Thursday night. Some 200 supporters attended each event, held at the Country Club of New Canaan and Waveny House, respectively.

Business

P&Z Approves Weed Street Subdivision, Mixed-Use Building on Cross Street

By |

Town planning officials on Tuesday approved a pair of closely followed land use applications—one for a 2-lot subdivision on Weed Street that includes a conservation easement connecting two New Canaan Land Trust properties, and another for a mixed residential-and-commercial structure on Cross Street that’s designed to accommodate future New Canaan Post Office needs. What follows is a summary of each item. Both were approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission at the group’s regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. Weed Street
P&Z on six conditions (see below) approved the 2-lot subdivision at 929 Weed St., a 9-acre property whose current structure—a Midcentury Modern—will remain, while two additional lots will be carved out. As part of the subdivision, the property’s owner is granting as a conservation easement along an approximately 425-foot strip of land that connects two parcels long ago given to the New Canaan Land Trust: One that backs up (eastward) into the woods and connects eventually to the New Canaan Nature Center, and another that includes wetlands and fronts Weed Street itself.

Government

New Canaan Residents Invited to Find Town’s Largest Trees

By |

Town resident Chris Schipper refers to trees here in New Canaan as “magnificent plants” and “creatures that have stood the test of time.”

New Canaan’s appreciation of trees, particularly large ones, increased in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which took down so many of them, Schipper said Wednesday at a meeting of the Public Tree Board, held in the computer room at Lapham Community Center. “It makes New Canaan bucolic, to have all of these trees around and these tree-lined streets,” said Schipper, a member of the volunteer board that assists the New Canaan tree warden in overseeing trees on public land in town. “We’re not going to end up like Rye or other places that are just built out in cleared lots.”

The board, which already is overseeing an effort to take an inventory of public trees in New Canaan, is inviting all residents to participate in a new “Notable Trees Project.”

The board’s goal is to develop and maintain a register tracking the largest tree of each species in town. All native and non-invasive naturalized tree species are eligible and a newly created “New Canaan Notable Tree Register” will be available on the board’s page on the town’s municipal website. Connecticut through its statewide “Notable Trees Project” has been documenting big trees in the state for about 30 years.

News

Open Space Advocates Eye Dream Greenway in New Canaan

By |

Open space advocates are eagerly anticipating the sale of a Weed Street property that could lead, if all goes well, to the creation of a pedestrian path connecting Irwin Park to the New Canaan Nature Center. If things pan out as they hope, New Canaan could see a “greenway” from the woods out back of the Nature Center, through New Canaan Land Trust property and all the way to Weed Street and Irwin Park (which itself may eventually connect via sidewalk to the top of Elm)—in other words, a walk-able loop encompassing the heart of downtown New Canaan and all those town treasures along the way. All that’s needed is the transfer to the town of a strategically placed 425-foot strip of land that’s about 15 to 30 feet wide (see map detail at right), according to New Canaan Land Trust Board of Trustees President Chris Schipper. Right now, that strip is part of a property at Weed Street near the intersection of Wahackme that has been on the market for a little over one year. Asked about the status of the property, listing agent Susan Blabey of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty confirmed that there’s an accepted offer and declined to say more, citing the owner’s privacy and the fact that the deal is not yet done.