4 Main St.

At Meeting That Turned Testy, Officials Voice Support for Plan To Restore and Rebuild God’s Acre Home 

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Saying a New Canaan builder has been collaborative and respectful of local history, officials on Tuesday voiced support for a plan to preserve much of an antique home on God’s Acre while rebuilding the rest of the house. Though members of the Historic District Commission for technical reasons (cited during a testy exchange, see below) stopped short of voting on whether to immediately approve a “Certificate of Appropriateness” for Karp Associates’ plan for the Greek Revival at 4 Main St., they applauded the firm’s decision to keep more than two-thirds of the original home. “It’s been noticed that you have gone above and beyond in your effort to keep the large majority of the antique house, all of the facade that is visible from the street—two facades, the 26-foot front and 30-foot side and the roof—and that you have also kept certain interior features which are out of our jurisdiction,” Commission Vice Chairman Marty Skrelunas said during the appointed body’s special meeting, held at Town Hall. He addressed Arnold Karp, president of Karp Associates, and COO Paul Stone, both in attendance. Skrelunas and Commissioner Mark Markiewicz had formed a subcommittee that worked with Karp’s team and architect Christopher Hull of Fairfield-based CAH Architecture and Design LLC for more than one month on plans for the prominent property.

4 Main St.

Local Developer: ‘This Old House’ Wants To Spotlight Rebuilding Project Planned for God’s Acre

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TV’s original home improvement show is interested in spotlighting a project to rebuild an antique New Canaan house as part of an upcoming season, the property’s owner said last week. “This Old House” is interested in plans to demolish and rebuild the ca. 1780-built Greek Revival at 4 Main St. by God’s Acre, according to Arnold Karp of Karp Associates. 

Karp on Sept. 26 applied for a permit to demolish the long-vacant structure, and his plan is to rebuild the original part of its street-facing facade while creating a new home that will have a smaller footprint than what’s there now.

Government

PHOTOS: Inside the Long-Vacant Greek Revival at 4 Main St.

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The new owner of the antique Greek Revival-style home at 4 Main St. is in talks now with the town-appointed body that oversees New Canaan’s Historic District. A neighborhood immediately around God’s Acre that includes 21 sites, the area is overseen by the Historic District Commission, whose sign-off is needed for exterior alterations to the buildings there. 

Arnold Karp of Karp Associates told NewCanaanite.com during a recent tour of the home (see photos above) that his plan is to raze the long-neglected ca. 1780-built house and rebuild its iconic street-facing facade. 

“There is nothing historical left because it’s been renovated so many times,” Karp said. “So our concept is to keep the facade which is what is iconic about this building, just rebuild it [the facade], make it look like it [the house] has been here forever, and then build a home with a current floor plan behind it.

News

Builder, Owner Agree on Selling Price for Long-Neglected Home on God’s Acre

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A prominent, 1780-built Greek Revival-style home on God’s Acre that’s sat empty for years is poised for restoration after its owner signed a contract to sell it to a local builder, officials said Monday. Arnold Karp of Karp Associates said he and the New Canaan man who owns the property have agreed on a price for the home at 4 Main St. A bank six years ago started foreclosure proceedings and needs signs off on the sale in order for the property to be transferred, Karp said. “Our concept is the keep the façade but the house has been leaking for years—it’s a mold factory—so you have to go in and rip the insides out and start fresh,” Karp told NewCanaanite.com. “The longer they wait, the worse it is for us.”

Karp said he’s in constant communication with attorneys representing the bank and is hopeful that the sale will close soon.

News

Local Builder Pursues Purchase, Restoration of Neglected Antique Home on God’s Acre

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A prominent local builder said he’s contract purchaser of the dilapidated 1780-built Greek Revival-style home on God’s Acre and plans to restore the long-vacant antique. New Canaan resident Arnold Karp of Karp Associates told NewCanaanite.com that he plans to demolish a recent addition to the back of 4 Main St. and preserve the street-facing façade, if salvageable. “It would look like the old house was saved and rectified,” Karp said. “It should be a win because the house is in the Historic District.”

If the purchase goes through—final approval is needed from a bank, which now owns the property—then Karp said the overall size of the structure will be reduced, under his own plan.