Town's Oldest House Goes Into Foreclosure

The town's oldest house, dating to 1675 to 1680, is the subject of a foreclosure proceeding by a Wilton bank due to an unpaid mortgage given to a developer who bought the house in 2008.

Wilton Bank on Old Ridgefield Road says in a lawsuit filed against Munson Builders on Fiske Street in Fairfield that it's seeking possession of the 909 Kings Highway West house, an adjacent, newly-constructed house, and an adjacent vacant piece of land due to Munson Builders' default on a $2.4 million mortgage from April 2008.

The house, a saltbox at the corner of Westway Road and Kings Highway West in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood, was a hot topic in town about two and-a-half years ago when Lowell and Nancy Hess, the home's former owners, put it on the market and Munson Builders bought it for $1.575 million. At the time, the house was on one lot, but Munson Builders subdivided the property into three lots - one included the house; another was for construction of a house; and a third is vacant land. Southport residents feared Munson may try to demolish the house, but they also didn't want a house built next to it, saying a newly-built house would ruin the aesthetics of the existing house and property.

George Russell, president of the Sasquanaug Association, a neighborhood group in Southport, said residents are concerned about what will happen to the house and that the Southport Conservancy, another neighborhood group in town, had tried to stop the development from proceeding.

Russell noted that the 909 Kings Highway West house is not in a historic district and he didn't believe anything prevented Munson Builders, or a future owner of the property, from demolishing it. "To sell an antique home, it's a very unique individual who would buy a home like that. A family would look for a different kind of home," he said. "The historic nature of that home doesn't preclude it from being demolished."

"Everyone is very unhappy about how that all went down over there," Russell said.

The town's Tax Collector's office said Tuesday that Munson Builders satisfied outstanding taxes on the three lots June 20 that totaled $22,759 and which had been due July 1, 2009. But Munson owes $6,448 on the three lots that dates to last July 1, according to the Tax Collector's Office. The three lots, along with a house at 1390 South Pine Creek Road, also have a judgment lien of $1,384, according to land records in the Town Clerk's Office.

The oldest house in town now sits on a 0.31-acre lot and was most recently assessed at $493,850, while the newly-built house, a two-story colonial, is on a 0.24-acre lot with a current assessment of $799,890. The vacant land on the other side of the oldest house is 0.23 acre and was most recently assessed at $290,010. Neither the oldest house in town nor the house built next to it in 2009 have sold.

The future of Fairfield's oldest house wasn't clear on Tuesday. David Ross, the Westport lawyer for Wilton Bank, wasn't available Tuesday afternoon to say what the bank planned to do with the house if it acquires it through the foreclosure proceeding. Town officials said banks normally auction a house acquired in a foreclosure or sell it on the open market.

Foreclosure proceedings also have been instituted against two condominium units at Pequot Landing, a development by the corner of Center Street and the Post Road that was built by Munson Builders after the old Pequot Motor Inn was demolished.