Government

‘We Hope That There May Still Be a Happy Resolution’: Application To Demolish Filed for Historic New Canaan Home

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Town officials on Wednesday received an application to demolish a Ferris Hill Road home that experts call one of New Canaan’s most historic structures—a development that follows years-long and wide-ranging efforts by its owner and preservationists to save it. The wood-shingled, 1735-built antique home at 8 Ferris Hill Road (or 441 Canoe Hill Road, according to the assessor, same property) sits in the southwestern corner of a 2.14-acre lot, up against the roadway, as is typical of the era. Town resident and builder Max Abel acquired the property in November 2013 for $1,250,000 with the thought of building a second home on the lot. It’s a purchase he said that he now regrets “because I held this naïveté that any plan that I would come up with that would include preserving the old house would be very welcome by all the people of the town, including all the neighbors.”

“And I didn’t see a possibility of anybody objecting to a plan—I could see more demands on how to make a [proposed new] house look more similar [to the antique], or have a garden between [the old and proposed new] houses to connect them, but never envisioned an objection by neighbors.”

The month after he purchased the property, Abel filed an application with the Planning & Zoning Commission for a special permit that would allow the antique home to remain as an accessory structure so that he could build a new house on the property (the combined square footage would go over coverage). Though Abel worked with preservationists and made some concessions in his development plan, several neighbors objected to its specifics, citing safety and aesthetic concerns, and in some cases requesting that P&Z impose requirements regarding the preservation of the antique (thought to have housed Connecticut’s last slave—more on that below), according to P&Z meeting minutes from January and February 2014.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The New Canaan Preservation Alliance on Sunday afternoon presented awards to two individuals and five properties in its eighth annual Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Halstead Property. Speakers included Rose Scott Long, the outgoing president, state Sen. Toni Boucher, NCPA Founder and past President Mimi Findlay and Rachel Carley, an historic consultant hired by the Alliance to continue the inventory of New Canaan’s historic houses. The gallery above spotlights award winners, including NewCanaanite.com for the Media Award—a huge thank-you to the NCPA! ***

Manfredi Jewels at 72 Elm St. is holding its Grand Opening party from 12 to 7 p.m. Friday and 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday this week, following an invite-only celebration Thursday of its special collection of Rolex timepieces.

Around Town

Restoration of Limestone Fireplace in Waveny House’s Great Hall Underway

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Officials overseeing the restoration of the limestone fireplace in the Great Hall at Waveny House say the hearth itself may well be a historic piece that was brought in from Europe. Johnny Hilares, director of restoration at Jersey City, N.J.-based Zakalak Restoration Arts, believes that the fireplace is antique but that the heads along the front of it likely were added later specifically for the house, said Rose Scott Long, president of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance. “It’s very interesting, because they’re the same heads that we see in the vestibule [of the mansion],” Scott Long said Thursday as Zakalak workers worked away at the restoration and clean-up for which they were hired in January. The project, funded by the nonprofit NCPA with monies raised at an event that marked the 100th birthday of Waveny House in 2012, is designed to help restore and preserve the cherished New Canaan structure and property in its original beauty, she said. “It will bring this space back to the original intent, the original beauty, the original appearance and if we continue with the help of donations, we can do more surfaces, more materials, more unique elements in the building,” Scott Long said.

Government

Preservationists Respond to Town Council’s Concerns about Listing Waveny on National Register of Historic Places

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The local nonprofit organization advocating to list Waveny—the main house, outbuildings and grounds—on the National Register of Historic Places, said in an open letter to town officials that its own members are seeking only to serve as fundraisers and expert advisors on the hugely popular public park. In a Dec. 5 letter to the Town Council, New Canaan Preservation Alliance President Rose Scott Long addressed the municipal body’s concerns about the nonprofit’s “authority, control and involvement” in overseeing capital projects or improvements at Waveny. “The Alliance would have no authority or control, but would like to be involved as a fundraising entitiy and as a source of preservation knowledge and expertise either from within the Alliance or by facilitating networking between the Town and entities with preservation expertise,” the letter said. It follows the Town Council’s Nov.

Government

Town Council Eyes Narrower Scope to Listing of Waveny on National Historic Register

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Raising questions about the exact scope of a proposal to list Waveny Park on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as some concerns about just what might follow from the designation, the Town Council on Wednesday night decided to postpone a vote for at least one more month. At one time, an effort led by the nonprofit New Canaan Preservation Alliance focused on listing just Waveny House and that century-old structure’s immediate environs on the National Register, though—with the thought that the park’s outbuildings and grounds, too, could benefit from an opportunity to get matching grants from the state for capital projects—the proposal has since expanded to include the entire park. But just what encompasses the “entire park” among the five contiguous parcels that form Waveny (see image at right) and whether New Canaan should seek to list all of it on the National Register in one shot are open questions, Town Council members said at their regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. Town Council member Kevin Moynihan said he was concerned about “potential negatives” of the listing, such as limiting what could be done on properties abutting Waveny if the designation was granted. “I recall that if you were following the Connecticut Siting Council’s approval of the Armory location for cell towers and the state historic preservation office used the Merritt Parkway’s designation on the National Register of Historic Places as a basis for restricting what could be done on state property adjacent to the National Historic place,” Moynihan said.