News

‘One of the Last Remaining Artifacts of New Canaan’: Preservationists Explore Ways To Save Historic Ferris Hill Road Home

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Mobilized by the very real possibility that a historic Ferris Hill Road home will be razed, local preservationists and other experts are working with its owner and touting the 2.14-acre property’s potential for types of development that would still save the antique structure. A demolition sign went up Wednesday at 8 Ferris Hill Road (listed as 441 Canoe Hill Road in the assessor’s database), one week after its owner applied for a permit to raze the 1735-built home. Now is a critical time for preservation advocates, before a 15-day window to object to the demolition runs out and a decision likely is left with a municipal committee. Though the home’s owner could not be reached for comment, he has said that demolition appears to be the only possible way to develop the property he now regrets purchasing more than two years ago. Yet one local expert, Robert Dean of New Canaan-based Robert Dean Architects, a firm that’s been practicing here for 30 years, said there are three basic ways that emerged when it comes to preserving an antique structure such as this in the face of development: Move it, sustain it in place and build around it, or sustain it in place and add onto it (more on those options below).

Government

‘We Hope That There May Still Be a Happy Resolution’: Application To Demolish Filed for Historic New Canaan Home

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Town officials on Wednesday received an application to demolish a Ferris Hill Road home that experts call one of New Canaan’s most historic structures—a development that follows years-long and wide-ranging efforts by its owner and preservationists to save it. The wood-shingled, 1735-built antique home at 8 Ferris Hill Road (or 441 Canoe Hill Road, according to the assessor, same property) sits in the southwestern corner of a 2.14-acre lot, up against the roadway, as is typical of the era. Town resident and builder Max Abel acquired the property in November 2013 for $1,250,000 with the thought of building a second home on the lot. It’s a purchase he said that he now regrets “because I held this naïveté that any plan that I would come up with that would include preserving the old house would be very welcome by all the people of the town, including all the neighbors.”

“And I didn’t see a possibility of anybody objecting to a plan—I could see more demands on how to make a [proposed new] house look more similar [to the antique], or have a garden between [the old and proposed new] houses to connect them, but never envisioned an objection by neighbors.”

The month after he purchased the property, Abel filed an application with the Planning & Zoning Commission for a special permit that would allow the antique home to remain as an accessory structure so that he could build a new house on the property (the combined square footage would go over coverage). Though Abel worked with preservationists and made some concessions in his development plan, several neighbors objected to its specifics, citing safety and aesthetic concerns, and in some cases requesting that P&Z impose requirements regarding the preservation of the antique (thought to have housed Connecticut’s last slave—more on that below), according to P&Z meeting minutes from January and February 2014.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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The New Canaan Preservation Alliance on Sunday afternoon presented awards to two individuals and five properties in its eighth annual Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Halstead Property. Speakers included Rose Scott Long, the outgoing president, state Sen. Toni Boucher, NCPA Founder and past President Mimi Findlay and Rachel Carley, an historic consultant hired by the Alliance to continue the inventory of New Canaan’s historic houses. The gallery above spotlights award winners, including NewCanaanite.com for the Media Award—a huge thank-you to the NCPA! ***

Manfredi Jewels at 72 Elm St. is holding its Grand Opening party from 12 to 7 p.m. Friday and 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday this week, following an invite-only celebration Thursday of its special collection of Rolex timepieces.

Around Town

Restoration of Limestone Fireplace in Waveny House’s Great Hall Underway

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Officials overseeing the restoration of the limestone fireplace in the Great Hall at Waveny House say the hearth itself may well be a historic piece that was brought in from Europe. Johnny Hilares, director of restoration at Jersey City, N.J.-based Zakalak Restoration Arts, believes that the fireplace is antique but that the heads along the front of it likely were added later specifically for the house, said Rose Scott Long, president of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance. “It’s very interesting, because they’re the same heads that we see in the vestibule [of the mansion],” Scott Long said Thursday as Zakalak workers worked away at the restoration and clean-up for which they were hired in January. The project, funded by the nonprofit NCPA with monies raised at an event that marked the 100th birthday of Waveny House in 2012, is designed to help restore and preserve the cherished New Canaan structure and property in its original beauty, she said. “It will bring this space back to the original intent, the original beauty, the original appearance and if we continue with the help of donations, we can do more surfaces, more materials, more unique elements in the building,” Scott Long said.

Government

Preservationists Respond to Town Council’s Concerns about Listing Waveny on National Register of Historic Places

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The local nonprofit organization advocating to list Waveny—the main house, outbuildings and grounds—on the National Register of Historic Places, said in an open letter to town officials that its own members are seeking only to serve as fundraisers and expert advisors on the hugely popular public park. In a Dec. 5 letter to the Town Council, New Canaan Preservation Alliance President Rose Scott Long addressed the municipal body’s concerns about the nonprofit’s “authority, control and involvement” in overseeing capital projects or improvements at Waveny. “The Alliance would have no authority or control, but would like to be involved as a fundraising entitiy and as a source of preservation knowledge and expertise either from within the Alliance or by facilitating networking between the Town and entities with preservation expertise,” the letter said. It follows the Town Council’s Nov.