New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: The Maxwell Perkins House

By |

‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. William Maxwell Evarts “Max” Perkins was the preeminent editor, and in many cases discoverer, of the greatest authors of 20th century American literature, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Marjorie Kennan Rawlings, James Jones and Ring Lardner. And Perkins lived, and died, in New Canaan. Perkins’ first encounter with New Canaan was in the summer of 1924, when he rented a cottage on the outskirts of town. “You would hate it,” he wrote his close friend Fitzgerald, “But I like it.”

Perkins liked it so much that later that year he purchased a gracious Greek Revival house located on 63 Park Street, steps away from the train station that he would commute from for the rest of his life.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: Silver Hill Hospital

By |

‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. Silver Hill Hospital does extraordinary work in treating all who suffer from addiction and psychiatric disorders. And it has a fascinating history. 

Founded by John Millet in 1931, it started as the Silver Hill Inn, a place to help patients described as “nervous, depressed, anxious, or malingering.” Beginning in 1971, focus was placed on building the hospital’s substance abuse program. By 1984, that program was staffed by a psychiatrist, an associate psychiatrist, a psychologist, substance abuse counselors, nursing staff, and a recreational and occupational therapist.

New Canaan There & Then

New Canaan There & Then: Shoemaking

By |

‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. As many in New Canaan know, shoemaking dominated New Canaan’s economy for more than a century. 

It all began with the Benedict family, who began making rough, wooden pegged shoes in 1768. These durable shoes were popular with New York laborers and southern plantation owners, who purchased them for enslaved field workers. The Ayres family made higher quality sewn shoes that they shipped to out-of-state upscale retailers. At the height of this industry, New Canaan produced 50,000 pairs a year.

Homepage Featured

New Canaan There & Then: David Ogden

By |

‘New Canaan There & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Bettina Hegel, Joanne Santulli, Dawn Sterner and Pam Stutz. Seven-and-a-half hours: the 2025 travel time from Liverpool, UK to New York City (with a layover). Seven weeks (plus trial and error of an additional two weeks): the 1844 transit time, along the same route, for New Canaan resident David Ogden. His harrowing journey was chronicled by historian David Finnie in the 1967 Annual published by the New Canaan Historical Society. 

From 1837 to 1844 David Ogden, (1811-1845), born in Fairfield, Connecticut, served as the Rector of St. Mark’s in New Canaan, a time in which he endured personal tragedies including the deaths of his wife and infant son.

Footer Featured Widget

New Canaan Now & Then: The Enos Weed House

By |

‘Now & Then’ is sponsored by Brown Harris Stevens Realtors Joanne Santulli, Karen Ceraso, Bettina Hegel and Schuyler Morris. The earliest records of the Weed Street property known as ‘The Enos Weed House’ dated 1752 show that Charles Weed purchased it from James Hait. 

It is unclear whether Charles or his son, Enos, Jr., built the house. Enos Weed, Jr. and his wife, Rhoda Silliman Weed had one daughter, Ann, who lived in the house. Mr. Enos Weed died in 1769 and the house continued to be occupied by his family. On January 14, 1773,  Reverend Drummond recorded in his “visitation” journal that Dr. Samuel C. Baker was also residing at the home.