Government

PHOTOS: Inside the Long-Vacant Greek Revival at 4 Main St.

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The new owner of the antique Greek Revival-style home at 4 Main St. is in talks now with the town-appointed body that oversees New Canaan’s Historic District. A neighborhood immediately around God’s Acre that includes 21 sites, the area is overseen by the Historic District Commission, whose sign-off is needed for exterior alterations to the buildings there. 

Arnold Karp of Karp Associates told NewCanaanite.com during a recent tour of the home (see photos above) that his plan is to raze the long-neglected ca. 1780-built house and rebuild its iconic street-facing facade. 

“There is nothing historical left because it’s been renovated so many times,” Karp said. “So our concept is to keep the facade which is what is iconic about this building, just rebuild it [the facade], make it look like it [the house] has been here forever, and then build a home with a current floor plan behind it.

Government

Tense Meeting Yields New Officer on Key Municipal Group

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The volunteer municipal body that oversees the preservation of New Canaan’s historic district—God’s Acre and the buildings around it—had a new officer appointed to its commission during an odd, tense meeting Thursday. The former secretary of the Historic District Commission, Terry Spring, who had served on the five-member group since 2005, wasn’t reappointed by town officials earlier in the week. Instead, the Board of Selectmen appointed alternate Carl Rothbart as a regular member. Spring’s ousting meant that a new secretary had to be elected. Yet she attended the commission’s Jan.

News

1889-Built ‘Red Cross Building’ on Main Street Under Contract with New Owner

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The stately 1889-built structure at 51 Main St. in New Canaan, property of the Red Cross for more than 60 years, is under contract with a new owner. New Canaan resident and builder Arnold Karp of Karp Associates confirmed with NewCanaanite.com that he’s a member of a partnership that is hoping to close on the 2,600-square-foot building and .38-acre property next month. The new ownership group in the early going believes it will return the building to a residential use, though in any case the structure itself will be restored and preserved, Karp said. “We want it to continue as a character piece of New Canaan,” Karp said.

News

Local Builder Pursues Purchase, Restoration of Neglected Antique Home on God’s Acre

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A prominent local builder said he’s contract purchaser of the dilapidated 1780-built Greek Revival-style home on God’s Acre and plans to restore the long-vacant antique. New Canaan resident Arnold Karp of Karp Associates told NewCanaanite.com that he plans to demolish a recent addition to the back of 4 Main St. and preserve the street-facing façade, if salvageable. “It would look like the old house was saved and rectified,” Karp said. “It should be a win because the house is in the Historic District.”

If the purchase goes through—final approval is needed from a bank, which now owns the property—then Karp said the overall size of the structure will be reduced, under his own plan.

Government

Historic District Officials File Blight Complaint in Connection with Dilapidated 1780-Built Main Street Home

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The volunteers that oversee New Canaan’s historic district—roughly the area around God’s Acre—are calling on town officials to consider a blight citation for a neglected antique home on Main Street. Tied up in lawsuits and foreclosure proceedings that recently became even more complicated due to a procedural error in court, the 1780-built Greek Revival-style house at 4 Main St. has been vacant for at least three years, officials say. At their most recent meeting, members of the Historic District Commission voted to contact New Canaan’s building official, invoking the town’s Blight Abatement and Prevention Ordinance. According to a letter that the commission’s secretary, Terry Spring, filed at Town Hall, the property “has been of concern to the Commission for some time and we note that there has been no improvement in the deteriorating condition of the historic house and grounds.”

“We note the property appears abandoned, the exterior building condition shows general damage and dilapidation of the structure.