Newtown’s Green Thumbs And Houses Provide A Big Turnout For Historical Society Tour

By Eliza Hallabeck

Despite the rain that drenched parts of Newtown and Sandy Hook for a brief time this past Saturday, more than 250 tickets were sold for the Newtown Historical Society’s 13th Annual House & Garden Tour.

The tour highlights Newtown’s historical houses, exceptional gardens, and one part of the tour brought out Newtown’s acclaimed artists. Some of the houses with gardens were not old, and one that was added to the tour this year was built in 1994. People were encouraged to buy tickets and drive to each of the homes and gardens on the tour.

According the brochure for the tour, “The history of Newtown is reflected in the homes and gardens on this diverse tour, which takes us from the 1700s to the present. The creative talent of our town is on display in the unique homes, magnificent gardens and in the work of our artists exhibited in a picturesque Main Street barn.”

Tickets were sold before the tour, but the $25 tickets could also be bought by driving up to the little stand outside of the Matthew Curtiss House on Main Street between 10 am and 2 pm that day. The tour officially started at 11 am and lasted until 5 pm, but at the end of the day a few stragglers were still looking at homes, according to Lincoln Sander, the president of the Historical Society and a House & Garden Committee member.

“[The tour] was really good,” said Mr Sander during a phone interview after the event. “Everyone was complimentary about the tour.”

As cars pulled up to the stand in front of the Matthew Curtiss House, Gordon Williams, a Newtown Historical Society trustee, handed out the tour brochure, a map of Newtown, and a copy of the rules and guidelines for the tour.

“I’m telling them to enjoy the tour,” said Mr Williams, when asked how he is sending people off. For people who were visitors to the town, he spent extra time giving them directions, and to everyone he suggested starting at the Miller Barn, which is just a few doors down from the Matthew Curtiss House.

Inside the Miller Barn, at 50 Main Street, local artists’ works were displayed along the walls by volunteers. The Miller Barn was originally a stable for competitive jumping horses, and, even though it was restored in 1970, the barn still has the original layout.

All of the artwork was on sale by the artist, and the proceeds went straight to the artist. Mr Sander said the artwork display is a side portion of the tour.

Paula Stephen coordinated the display in the Miller Barn over months of gathering the support of willing artists and their artwork. The local artists displayed in the show included Paula Brinkman, Betty Christensen, Robert Cottingham, Bruce Degen, Ross MacDonald, Grace McEnaney, Paul Meisel, Ruth Newquist, Stacy Olszewski, Linda Pickwick, Michelle Rosenthal, and Virginia Zic.

“These are famous artists,” said Ms Stephen. “I mean there is thousands of dollars worth of art here.”

Ms Stephen, with the help of other volunteers, hung all of the artwork up the morning of the tour, and by 11 am, when the barn opened, she said she was thrilled.

“We need culture in this town,” she said. “I think Newtown should have this culture.”

Barbara Yarbrough, one of the docents stationed at the barn until 1 pm, said she just volunteered to help for the day. She said she loves the Miller Barn, because she loves barns and horses.

“They have a lovely building and the artwork just enhances it,” she said about the Miller Barn.

Over in Sandy Hook, Mary Fellows, at 120 Walnut Tree Hill Road, was busy entertaining a stream of people on the tour. This was the first year the home of Ms Fellows and John Conk was put on the tour, and people who walked through it had nothing but praise. The house was built in 1826, and an addition was added in the 1970s. The house sits on 12 acres of land.

Ms Fellow’s daughter, Chloe, who is a 12-year-old attending the Chase Collegiate School in Waterbury, busied herself during the day by giving a tour of the house. In the dining room she pointed out the chandelier that is iron, but has had sticks added to it to make it look like a bird’s nest.

In the living room Chloe showed the fireplace to people on the tour, noting the mortar used to form it had hoof prints still molded into it. According to Chloe, animals were kept inside when it was cold.

“This is still a working farm,” said Chloe.

The bread oven on the right of the fireplace is not in working condition, but it still sits where it has since it was built.

“Being on the tour does really get you going,” said Ms Fellows. She said she has participated in the tour before, but this is the first time she has let people into her home.

Throughout the home Ms Fellows has hung vintage signs that are mostly theater related, but one for the Sandy Hook Ice Co. hangs on the back porch. Tour members also admired Ms Fellow’s yard on Saturday and sat in two lawn chairs that overlook a garden.

In the gardens of 11 Farm Meadow Road, tour members encountered a lion and cat. Judy Fishman has been living in her home since 1994, and a few years after moving there she started gardening.

“I always loved flowers,” said Ms Fishman, who is the president and publisher of LMT magazine, which stands for Lab Management Today. The magazine focuses on “business strategies for dental laboratory decisionmakers.”

Once she started gardening, “I would get up as soon as the sun was out and I would be gardening my heart out,” she said.

The gardens now cover her lawn, which looks over the hills of the southwestern section of town. One garden, which sits on a small hill on the side of her house, is called the Monet Garden, because when the perennial flowers bloom the stone lion who calls the garden home is covered in color. Another stone animal, a cat, sits in another garden on the property.

Ms Fishman said she had no idea that her home could be on the house and garden tour, but when a friend saw her gardens, the friend told her to contact the Newtown Historical Society.

Outside, music her son composed played while members of the tour walked through the gardens.

According to Mr Sander of the historical society, the total amount raised by the tour is still unknown, but he said it is normally between $3,000 and $4,000.

“We had 40 volunteers,” said Mr Sander, who also added that this is one of the only fundraisers the society has each year.