Date: Fri 01-Mar-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

historic-home-survey

Full Text:

Scope of Historic Home Survey Expanded

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

A survey of vintage homes in Newtown has local historians speculating whether

the town may, indeed, have more 18th century dwellings than any other town in

Connecticut.

"It still has to be proven, of course, but it is really quite possible," Town

Historian Dan Cruson said. "This survey is revealing just how many we could

have."

Rose-Marie Ballard, a consultant in the preservation and conservation of

historic architecture, was contracted by the Newtown Historical Society to

conduct a survey on about 265 homes in Newtown which are believed to pre-date

1825. She presented a report last week on the progress of her work to the

historical society's architectural survey committee.

The survey has grown to include all homes constructed before 1945 in the

borough, and all those constructed before 1825 in the rest of town, as a

result of an additional $4,000 in funding that has become available from the

Connecticut Historical Commission. Last year the Legislative Council approved

a $5,000 appropriation to secure a $5,000 matching federal/state grant to

conduct the survey. The survey is intended as an inventory of the buildings

and an attempt to establish their historical significance, including an

approximate date of construction.

Local residents including Mary Mitchell and Albert Goodrich, who photographed

almost all of the older houses in town, already had done a great deal of work

in a similar project.

"The problem is that this work (by local residents) carries absolutely no

weight with the state and federal officials who make the determinations for

designations such as National Register," Mr Cruson said. "It had to be done by

a researcher who meets their qualifications."

Mr Cruson said Rose-Marie Ballard is a trained architectural historian who can

spot details that provide clues to a building's past.

"She can determine that a 19th century house was built on an 18th century

foundation because the original house may have burned down," he explained.

Ms Ballard said she has done a drive-by survey of 515 potentially historic

structures, of which 13 clearly were not eligible, 172 were questionable and

330 eligible.

"To be eligible, a building must be historically intact," she said. "It must

not have lost its integrity. I look for items such as fenestration, decorative

elements, siding, additions. It may be a 17th century structure but if it has

been dramatically altered, it will not be eligible."

"The decision is not easy," she admitted. "Many retain some integrity but have

been altered significantly in the past."

Sallie Meffert, president of the Newtown Historical Society, said the project

expanded in scope late last year as a result of a disagreement between local

historians and the state on the parameters of the project.

The state wanted the study to be done by geographical areas, with a focus on

individual neighborhoods, such as the borough, Sandy Hook center and the

Taunton area, and to include all structures which pre-date 1945.

"This is not what we had in mind," Mrs Meffert said. "It was not what we had

told the town when we asked for the matching (local) funds. Areas like the

borough already have been done to death. I felt very strongly that we should

do exactly what we said in our grant proposal, which is to do all of the

oldest structures in Newtown."

As a result of the disagreement, the local historians were prepared to reject

the grant.

"They (the state officials) were a little surprised," Mr Cruson said. "I don't

think they ever had a town say `no' before."

Instead, the state and local historians worked out a compromise: The entire

town would be surveyed for pre-1825 dwellings; the state agreed to provide an

additional $4,000 in funding to pay for the surveying of structures up to 1945

in the borough.

"Because of this we are getting even more leverage out of our town dollars,"

Mr Cruson said.

Ms Ballard had submitted a bid to conduct the survey at a cost of $30 per

building, working in conjunction with an associate, Mary Neustradter of New

York City. Originally the survey was to be completed by May but because the

project has expanded in scope, the completion date has been pushed back 60

days to the end of June, Mr Cruson said.

The project will include a 25-page historical narrative of Newtown, a black

and white photograph and information on each qualifying building, a map,

indexes, slides of at least 10 percent of the properties and an identification

of those which may meet the criteria for inclusion on the National Register of

Historic Places. The project will conclude with a public meeting featuring a

slide show narrated by the consultants.

The members of the architectural survey committee include Mrs Meffert, Mr

Cruson, Mae Schmidle, Kris Atwood, Anne Ragusa, Barnes Reed, Tammara McMahon,

John Madzula and John Smith.