Destruction Of Historic House 'A Huge Loss' For Norwalk: Former Owners

NORWALK, CT — Growing up, Jenna Garry loved going next door to her grandmother's home on Willow Street for family meals.

According to Garry, her grandmother, Kathleen Morrow, had lived at 21 Willow Street since at least the early 60's and was constantly welcoming people inside for a meal or a tour.

"She was the ultimate host," Garry said. "She hosted everyone from local politicians to historians."

Morrow had a deep love for Norwalk's history, and as such took great pride in her home, also known as the Thomas Hyatt house, having been built in 1677. According to city officials, it is considered a historic building.

A beloved elementary school teacher at Tracey Magnet School, Morrow was drawn to the house because of its historical significance and often gave tours of her home to school children.

"She loved everything about that," Garry said, "and she preserved the house as much as she could to the original. The four rooms on the first floor were the true original rooms."

Morrow lived in the home until 2010, and it remained in her family's possession until it was sold to a new owner around 2015, Garry said.

Over the weekend, that piece of Norwalk and Morrow family history came crashing down after city officials announced the historic house at 21 Willow Street had been illegally demolished.

In a statement released Tuesday, Mayor Harry Rilling said the city received a call Saturday asking for information about the home being demolished.

In response, Chief Building Official Bill Ireland went to the property to assess the situation and found an illegal demolition underway, Rilling said. Ireland issued an immediate stop work order, which was still in effect as of Tuesday evening.

See also: Historic Norwalk Home Illegally Demolished: Mayor

Rilling noted a contractor working on the home had a permit to renovate the second floor, however a demolition permit was never issued.

A building permit application obtained by Patch indicates the contractor was the current owner of the home.

Planned work described in the permit includes construction of a second story addition over the existing footprint and interior renovations to the first floor kitchen, laundry and bathroom. The permit was signed by city building officials on Oct. 21.

"I am disgusted by this contractor's actions and want to ensure he knows that when someone violates the city's requirements to issue a demolition permit or get a proper demolition license, there are consequences," Rilling said in a statement. "What he's taken from us was more than just a building, it was an integral part of Norwalk's history. In coordination with the Norwalk Historical Commission and our legal department, we plan to pursue this matter to the fullest extent of the law, including potential civil and criminal penalties."

According to Rilling, the contractor was not a licensed demolition contractor and the incident is being reviewed by the city's legal department, with plans to pursue "the strictest penalties possible."

Garry said her family had issues selling the home initially because of the limitations of doing work in the home due to the historical preservation aspect of the property.

"I know that it didn't look historical at the end because there was vinyl siding and additions had been made," Garry said, "but if you walked into the home, you would know how historical it really was from the exposed beams. It was tree logs that were holding the house together."

According to Town Clerk Rick McQuaid, the property was still referred to as the "Morrow House" by many residents who were given tours of it by their beloved teacher year ago.

"Thousands of kids went through that house...I'm kind of stunned it's gone," McQuaid said.

Though McQuaid said he was upset the house was gone now, he also hoped it might re-ignite conversations about the property's history and what it meant to the city.

"Sadly it's not here to look at," McQuaid said, "but hopefully there are people that are going to discuss the Hyatts and the history of them and Norwalk and everything...that would be the only good thing that comes out of this; that people start talking about the history of everything again, because we've gotten away from it a little bit."

For Garry, the loss of the house is also the loss of a key piece of her family's history, having spent nearly every day visiting her grandmother's house for many years while growing up in Norwalk.

"I think it's a huge loss for the city and for our family knowing the amount of years that our family put in to preserving it, my grandmother in particular," Garry said. "The amount of tours that she held for school children and the amount of historical home tours that she was involved in, to know that's not going to happen again is a loss to us and to Norwalk."