Westport Historic District Commission Names 'Historic Preservation Award' Winners

WESTPORT, CT — The Westport Historic District Commission will honor nine local homes, and one resident, this month as the recipients of its 2016 Historic Preservation Awards.

The awards will be presented during a ceremony in Westport Town Hall on Oct. 17 by First Selectman Jim Marpe, Historic District Commission Chair Francis Henkels, and members of the Historic District Commission.

The following is a list of the recipients and a brief narrative from the commission explaining why each was selected:

25 Cavalry Road (Preservation)
Alva Finch House, c. 1837
Greek Revival
Deborah and Kevin Dorsey

This handsome, well-proportioned house of the Federal period is an example of one of the better local expressions of the Greek Revival style. The current owners purchased the homestead for their young family. They meticulously restored the house to its former splendor and are currently undertaking the renovation of the barn to house their horse. They have set for themselves a high standard for restoration. The improvements update the residence with 21st century conveniences, but retain the character of the original structure. They seem to have found the right balance.

Legend has it that the Fitch brothers, Sam and Alva, divided their inheritance at the passing of their father who owned the land as early as 1763. As the story is told, Sam cut off his half of the original farmhouse and hauled it to the other end of the farm, which later became 43 Red Coat Road. As a result, Alva Fitch rebuilt his missing half of the original house which has features of both the Federal and Greek Revival styles. Frazier Peters states in an unpublished manuscript about the divided house and its separate owners, “as a consequence, we both have houses with broken backs!” Despite the divide, each structure remains standing today.

One Red Coat Road (Preservation)
Stone Ice House, c. 1858-1867
Sandra and Albert Cordts

A local developer came before the HDC seeking a recommendation to the Building Official for a demolition delay waiver for the existing, non-historic main house, carport, and older ice house at One Red Coat Road. Although the members did not object to the demolition of the house and carport, they appealed to the developer to preserve and restore the stone ice house and incorporate it into his development plans. He agreed that it could be an interesting feature for the property. Through research it was found that the “Ice House” was probably built by Frederick H. Nash, c. 1858-1867, and used for ice storage from ice harvested at Nash’s Pond. The current owners have since continued to maintain and value the structure as one of only three known ice houses to have survived in Westport.

79 Kings Highway North (Reconstruction)
Charles Cutler House, c. 1920
Colonial Revival
Laura Martindale and Cormac Treanor

The 1920s two-story Colonial Revival at 79 Kings Highway North, built by famed local architect Charles Cutler as his private residence, receives this preservation award for an outstanding reconstruction. Expecting a restoration project ahead, the new owners were confronted by uncovered structural damage and deterioration, which required extensive dismantling of the house and subsequent reconstruction. They understood the value of preservation, welcomed the challenge of period reconstruction, researching and sourcing the architectural elements essential to restoring the home to its most authentic historical condition possible.

The new owners removed windows, their shutters, and a one story sun porch to the right side of the house and replaced existing siding and moldings, in most cases with the exact match to the original. They also added a small patio in front of the house, a farmer’s porch on the left side of the building, and replaced the existing asphalt shingle roof, although in keeping with the period, with wood shingles. In the rear of the house a two-story addition replaces an existing screened porch. A small portico added to the front of the house appropriately reflects the style and character of the time. Here is an example of how the sensitive reconstruction of a deteriorated historic structure can accommodate contemporary needs while continuing to contribute to the character of the historic district.

96 Kings Highway North (Helen Muller Award for an Outstanding Property in a Local Historic District)
David Judah House, c. 1760
The Lotti Family

This interesting home was constructed c. 1760 by David Judah, who was reportedly one of the first merchants and the first Jewish homeowner in Westport. He shared his home with his Christian wife Esther Taylor of Taylor Town’s founding family. Taylor Town is the section now commonly known as Old Hill. After several owners the property was purchased by Algernon Binyon and his artist wife Caroline Bean who added an artist’s studio and gallery in 1919. That studio remains, immaculately preserved as it appeared in 1919. A second addition was added in the 1930s behind the art studio. The Lotti family purchased the house in 2014 and it has since gone through a meticulous restoration, preserving every nail and piece of timber possible. Wooden repairs have been made with mahogany to mimic the density of old pine that exists throughout the home. All original windows underwent a full glass-out restoration and every window in the house remains single-paned. Both chimneys were rebuilt using the same brick and some additional bricks recycled from a 19thcentury Massachusetts town hall chimney. An attractive cedar shake roof was installed. The only material changes made to the house were in the 1939 kitchen and garage extension which have been updated to reflect the needs of a modern family. All stonewalls have been restored using the appropriate dry stack method.

35 Elm Street (Adaptive Re-use and Restoration)
Kemper-Gunn House, c. 1885/Moved from 35 Church Street in 2014
Queen Anne Style
DC Kemper-Gunn LLC

As planning for the new Bedford Square development evolved out of the former YMCA complex, a notable 1889 Queen Anne house, on an adjacent property that became part of the development, appeared caught in the path of change. As concern grew about the fate of this house, a Bedford Square Associates partner, Mr. David Waldman, proposed a creative solution. He offered to relocate the structure, at his expense, to a town owned site across the street on a portion of the Baldwin Parking lot. Westporters interested in saving the house worked with the town government and after a complicated process, succeeded in working out an arrangement whereby this important house was saved with no direct cost to the town. But it was more than a house that was preserved. A link to the historic center of Westport, was shifted across the street, sensitively renovated and endowed with a new purpose. At the same time, this relocation might be the beginning of the restoration of the residential character of Elm Street, which had been lost for decades to an expanse of surface parking.

151 Easton Road (Preservation)
Goodsell-Grumman Toll House, c. 1760
Colonial Style
Jennifer O’Reilly

In 2000, Ms. Nancy D. Brown, a previous owner, sought the local historic property designation of this important historic structure which predates Easton Road. The house was built by John and Lewis Goodsell, sons of the Reverend John Goodsell, first minister of the Greenfield Hill Church, in 1760. Five generations of the Taylor family lived in the house. In 1817 a turnpike, the present Easton Road, was constructed to provide the Aspetuck Valley and Greenfield Hill farmers with a route to the market port of Saugatuck. A tollgate was set up at the house. It is one of the few remaining saltboxes in Westport, although extensively reworked in the Colonial style.

The current owner has demonstrated her sensitivity to the historic significance of the house by making improvements and using materials that enhance the character and style of the original house. Aluminum gutters and leaders have been changed to copper. Asphalt shingles have been removed and replaced with cedar shingles. The existing skylight has been relocated to the new roof of the kitchen. Finally, and importantly, the existing windows have been restored and reused or, in a few cases replaced with new matching windows.

18 West Parish Road (Rehabilitation and Appropriate Addition to an Historic Property)
Thomas Nash III House, c.1770
Colonial Style
Elizabeth and William Rubidge

According to historian J. F. Coley, this prominent pre-revolutionary house was built by Thomas Nash III, a direct descendent of Thomas Nash, the first blacksmith in the West Parish, c. 1770. This house has retained much of the original historic features through various owners, including, reportedly serving as an inn. The current owners, who have lived in the house for the last fifteen years have restored portions and carefully maintained the house. After developing a thorough understanding of the important character of the house and its shortcomings, they recently undertook a more extensive renovation and addition. They removed a later, incongruous one story addition and on the same footprint, replaced it with a new addition, much more in keeping with the existing character of the original house. We found it particularly noteworthy that the new addition consciously defers to and reinforces the original house by intentionally limiting its massing relative to the main house and by including many of the same features and finishes.

33 Meeker Road (Rehabilitation/Special Permit for Historic Residential Structures)
Meeker House, c. 1800
Georgian Style
Scott Rochlin

The owner of this property, seeking to redevelop the site which included a historic house, sought and received a Special Permit for Historic Residential Structures as an alternative to demolition. This town zoning incentive regulation ensures the preservation of the original historic house through a preservation easement, while relaxing certain zoning constraints on additional development on the site. This regulation allowed the owner to incorporate the restoration of the original house into a complementary new construction. The owner met with the Joint Committee of the Historic District Commission and the Architectural Review Board who reviewed the proposed design for the project prior to planning and zoning approval.

41 Turkey Hill Road South (Excellence in Ongoing Care and Maintenance)
Rapallo-Sumner House c. 1860, 1920
Colonial Revival
Kim and Stephen Penwell

The Rapallo-Sumner House has had an interesting evolution. It was built by a member of the prominent Taylor family who owned considerable property in the neighborhood. It was altered many times, including a flat roofed, south wing addition in the 1920s. After purchasing the house in 1998, the current owners discovered that the house became unusually hot in the spring. They learned that a major fire in the 1930s destroyed the second floor which necessitated the construction of a new mansard style roof and the elimination of the attic. Newer additions were removed in the back and rebuilt in a more appropriate style. Modified in the Colonial Revival style, this house sits prominently on a hill overlooking acres of gardens, a pool and pool house and carefully restored stonewalls. Considerable effort was made to preserve and protect both the remaining interior and exterior fabric of the house.

Dave Matlow
Special Recognition for Photojournalism

An award of special recognition is presented to long-time Westport resident, Dave Matlow, for more than a decade of photojournalism that documents the trends of Westport’s residential and commercial structures. Matlow, who created the popular WestportNow “Teardown of the Day” series, highlights the properties currently slated for demolition. For many years, Matlow has assisted the Historic District Commission by photographing the collection of Annual Preservation Award houses which are displayed at Town Hall. His photographs enhance awareness of our historically significant built environment and record the unfortunate loss of some of its historic resources.

The ceremony on the 17th will be held in the Town Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Carol Leahy, CLG Coordinator/HDC Staff Administrator, Historic District Commission, at cleahy@westportct.gov or 203-341-1184.

Photo: 79 Kings Highway North, Westport. Photo credit: Google Maps