Luxury Boutique Hotel In Greenwich Could Undergo Renovations

GREENWICH, CT — A luxury boutique hotel in the exclusive Belle Haven section of Greenwich which was sold last fall could undergo major renovations, documents submitted to Greenwich Planning & Zoning show.

Thomas Henkelmann and Theresa Carroll ran the Homestead Inn and Restaurant at 420 Field Point Road for over two decades, according to the hotel's website.

They sold the establishment last fall to The McDevitt Company, a property development and brokerage firm, and The Glazer Family office, which founded Graybarns on the Silvermine River in Norwalk.

The tax card for the property notes a sale price of $7.5 million.

New windows, doors, exterior repairs and interior renovations are currently taking place, said Thomas Heagney, attorney for the applicant, in documents filed with the town.

The facility currently contains 19 guest rooms, four staff rooms and two meeting rooms along with a barn used for storage, Heagney said.

Under the proposal to the town, the number of guest rooms would be reduced to 14 through the creation of guest room suites, Heagney said.

This would result in four guest suites in the restaurant building, four in the carriage house and one in a cottage that's on the property.

Heagney noted the barn would be relocated and include a guest suite on the first floor, and two on the second floor with a new attached two-car garage.

A new stable building would be added with nine parking spaces at grade-level, and two guest suites on the second floor.

The restaurant would be retained on the site and occupy the same area as it currently does, Heagney said.

"This proposal will not result in any additional activity or traffic associated with the site since the number of guest rooms will be reduced and the restaurant will not be expanded," Heagney said.

In a Facebook post last November announcing the sale, Carroll thanked former guests for their support through the years. She expressed excitement for the future.

"We are excited to pass our unique restaurant and inn, which date back to 1799, to the new partnership, and we believe that they will take the properties to even new heights," Caroll said. "The McDevitt/Glazer partnership is excited to have the opportunity to update and further beautify this very special property."

According to the Greenwich Historical Society, Abraham Mead built a farmhouse in 1799 on the property for his wife, Keziah Howe and his three children, Deborah, Zophar and Isaac.

"A succession of innkeepers took over 'The Homestead,' adding more rooms, a widow’s walk and oodles of Victorian trimmings," the historical society says on its website. "Then, for two years at the turn of the 20th century, teachers, Mary Gibson and Harriet Stowe, owners of the Rye Female Seminary, later Rye Country Day School, ran the inn as Homestead Hal, a school exclusively for girls."

During the 1920s, a three-bedroom cottage and a guest house were installed, the historical society said.

The item has not yet been scheduled to go before the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission.

Read more on the history of the property from the Greenwich Historical Society