Around Town

New Canaan Historical Society Launches ‘A Winter’s Tale’ Exhibition in Costume Museum

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Scroll through the gallery above to view a portion of the costumes and items on display now at the New Canaan Historical Society for the nonprofit organization’s recently launched “A Winter’s Tale” exhibition. Featuring illustrations as well as mannequins dressed in ca. 1900s costume, the exhibition is designed to tell a story of people enjoying a winter wonderland through different parts of New Canaan through the early part of the 20th Century. The Historical Society typically puts on a new exhibition for the holiday season and two per year in its Costume Museum, upstairs at the Town House (13 Oenoke Ridge Road, just at the crest of the hill by God’s Acre). Janet Lindstrom, the Historical Society’s executive director, said “A Winter’s Tale” will run through March.

Around Town

Historical Society To Host ‘Victorian Tea’ on Saturday, an Elegant Tradition for New Canaanites

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The New Canaan Historical Society on Saturday will welcome visitors of all ages for the nonprofit organization’s annual Victorian Tea, part of a day-long Open House and a local tradition for many families and individuals. Held in the 1825-built Town House at the top of God’s Acre, the most regularly used structure on the Historical Society’s campus, the event sees the parlor room transformed into a bustling, festive hub cakes, sandwiches and, of course, tea from 12 to 3:30 p.m.

Generations of New Canaanites have become regular attendees, according to Janet Lindstrom, executive director of the Historical Society. “One thing that I’ve noticed is that oftentimes grandparents will bring their grandchildren in because they almost always have an activity going on like a puppet show, so they will come and have tea and then go to a puppet show or make a gingerbread house and then have tea,” Lindstrom said from the parlor on a recent afternoon, standing beside a case that features Shirley Temple, Colonial-era “wishbone” and other antique dolls. “There are some people that have been coming with their own child for years and years since they were about five, and now they’re in junior high school and they’re still coming,” Lindstrom said. New Canaan resident Jennifer Ruth called the tea “a hidden gem in New Canaan.”

Government

Historic District Officials Raise Concerns About Red Cross Building on Main Street

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Town officials say they’re concerned that the 1889-built Red Cross building on Main Street appears to be deteriorating and are eager to steer the nonprofit organization toward grants available for capital repairs. The building’s owners appear to have taken care of some problems with the 2,600-square-foot structure at 51 Main St. but its porch appears to have regressed further, members of the Historic District Commission said at their most recent meeting. “We are reaching a point where it is beyond sheer stabilization, it is reaching that point,” Commissioner Martin Skrelunas said at the June 25 meeting, held at the New Canaan Historical Society. New Canaan’s historic district encompasses 21 structures near and around God’s Acre, including the building at number 51 that the Red Cross purchased in 1952 for $28,000.

Around Town

Farewell, Margaret: Oenoke Ridge Family Loses Well-Loved, 300-Year-Old Apple Tree

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“You will always be in our heart … because in there you’re still alive.” —Angelina Hubertus, 8, writing to the apple tree ‘Margaret’ in her diary

The Hubertus family cannot say just how or when it settled on ‘Margaret’ in naming the apple tree by the driveway of this lovingly landscaped 4-acre Oenoke Ridge Road property. Yet at some point for Gregory and Linda Hubertus, and their 8-year-old daughter Angelina, Margaret’s eyes, nose and lips took shape in the tree’s knobby trunk, and there is something in the tree’s bearing and bark (the plant is estimated to be 300 years old) that animates, gives an impression of a living thing that is more than passive. Straightaway after purchasing this upper Oenoke property last summer and moving into its 1810-built house, the Hubertuses found themselves gathering near Margaret, turning toward her—Angelina and her friends pedaling their bikes around the tree last fall, family golden-doodle Barley playing on the snow piled up near the tree this winter, and Gregory just weeks ago voicing a plan to relocate some outdoor furniture in her ample shade. “Everybody loves this apple tree,” Linda told NewCanaanite.com on a recent morning.

Government

Once Part of a 90-Acre Farmland Parcel, Historic West Road Barn on Track for Restoration

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Officials on Tuesday approved a West Road property owner’s plan to restore what is being called a historically significant barn, and in a slightly different way than had originally been approved. It isn’t clear just when the 1.5-story barn at 388 West Road was built, though the head of the New Canaan Historical Society puts construction of an original house that had stood there and listed a barn on the property at about 1764. Originally, general contractor Ian Hobbs of New Canan’s Hobbs Inc. had planned as part of the restoration—which included modest additions (such as dormers and enough height for to accommodate them) and required a special permit—to preserve certain historical aspects of the structure itself. However, Hobbs told the Planning & Zoning Commission at its regular meeting, “a tremendous amount of rot” was discovered in the vertical beams during asbestos abatement. As a result, two alternatives emerged: using the barn’s mostly well-preserved horizontal beams for decorative purposes or else leave them in place and work around them at greater time and with no aesthetic benefit, as they’ll have to be sheet-rocked over in any case for fire safety, Hobbs said.