Town officials on Wednesday received a letter objecting to the planned demolition of a historic home at 8 Ferris Hill Road, triggering a public hearing later this month on the divisive proposal.
8 Ferris Hill Road in New Canaan. Credit: Michael Dinan
Asked for his thoughts following the formal objection, property owner Max Abel said in an email to NewCanaante.com: “I suggest all those who oppose the demolition to put their money where their mouth is and purchase this property.”
Abel has said he now regrets buying the 2.14-acre property and 1735-built home that sits on it, as he believed at the time of the purchase in November 2013 that his neighbors would want the house preserved while he developed the property. Abel went through multiple public hearings in the weeks and months that followed his acquisition of the property at 8 Ferris Hill Road (listed as 441 Canoe Hill Road in the assessor’s database) in an effort to find a way he could build a new house on the lot while preserving the original.
Though neighbors objected to the building plans for the property, Abel rented out the home and continued to work with preservationists eager to save the antique.
Sketch of 8 Ferris Hill Road, present-day, by Mark Markiewicz
Two weeks ago, Abel filed an application to demolish the 2,378-square-foot home, triggering a flurry of activity from those preservationists, who formed a group of experts dedicated to it and put forward ideas about developing the property in a way that includes the house, launched a Facebook campaign to “Save 8 Ferris Hill” and held multiple meetings on the matter.
Under Section 12A-9 of the Town Code, a written objection to proposed demolition must be received by the town building official within 15 days of publication of a demolition notice, and it then goes to a volunteer Historical Review Committee to “decide all pertinent objections.”
In this case, the objection letter came from Patricia Oxman of Davenport Ridge Road, according to a copy obtained by NewCanaanite.com.
Demolishing the home would be “a terrible loss for our town today and for future generations who have no voice today,” Oxman wrote.
Conceptual rendering of modern development at 8 Ferris Hill Road that preserves the antique structure, by Mark Markiewicz.
“We have fewer and fewer antique houses in our town and here’s one that is one of the very oldest. It still retains the character of the 18th century, not to mention a long history of connections to our town.”
New Canaan should cherish its history through preservation of such artifacts, she said.
“Antique historical buildings like this one are remarkable to have survived so long—this building has outlived many generations of people. It is one thing to read history but to see it through an antique building is a gift from the past—how can we even consider giving this up? We won’t get another one.”
The working committee of preservationists calls itself the ‘8 Ferris Hill Group,” and includes Janet Lindstrom and Mark Markiewicz of the New Canaan Historical Society, Lesley Cousley and Rose Scott Long of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance, and Tom Nissley, member of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation’s Board of Trustees and Advisor to the New Canaan Preservation Alliance.
According to a statement from the group, published in full as a PDF below, the Historical Review Committee’s hearing on the property is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 24 at the historical society.
The group is calling for those who favor the structure’s preservation to attend the hearing (only one letter must be filed with the town to trigger this process). It asks people to like the Save 8 Ferris Hill Facebook page, visit a website dedicated to a similar home in Norwalk and visit Abel’s own website on the Ferris Hill Road home, which includes a house review and history.
“We are working toward a solution to keep this historic property intact and in its historic location, continuing its contribution to the history and the varied fabric of New Canaan,” the group said.
If the Historical Review Committee following receipt of all objection letters and its hearing “makes a timely written finding that the structure is of historical, architectural or cultural significance to the Town of New Canaan,” then the home gets an additional 90-day stay of demolition from the date that the application was filed—which appears to be May 31.