Sanford House Sits At The Center Of  A Tug Of War Between History And The Highway

By Andrew Gorosko

The Connecticut Historical Commission is poised to consider including the 1712 Samuel Sanford House at 68 Church Hill Road in Sandy Hook on the State Register of Historic Places.

Placing the property on the register would ensure that the historic value of the site is thoroughly reviewed during an anticipated highway planning study. That planning study would precede a redesign and relocation of westbound Interstate-84’s Exit 10 off-ramp immediately to the west of the historic house.

Proposed long-term improvements for the Exit 10 interchange include building a new gently curved I-84 westbound off-ramp on the south side of Church Hill Road, immediately to the west of the Sanford house, to replace the existing sharply hooked westbound off-ramp on the north side of Church Hill Road.

Faith Gulick, who owns the 1.5-acre property at 68 Church Hill Road, which includes the white post-and-beam center-chimney Colonial house, a barn complex, a carriage shed, and a corncrib, said Monday she plans to attend the February 7 meeting of the Connecticut Historical Commission in Hartford, at which the panel will evaluate the historical significance of the property and will consider placing it on the historic register.

As part of a long-term project to improve traffic flow on I-84 between the Housatonic River and New York State, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) has completed a basic study describing how $268 million worth of improvements would be made to the mainline of I-84 and to the interchanges along it.

Last June, when DOT planners publicly described their ideas on improving I-84, including changing the configuration of the Exit 10 interchange, Ms Gulick registered her concerns about the project, stressing her desire to protect her historic property from change in the face of the highway reconstruction. Ms Gulick’s family moved to the house in 1957.

Letter

In a July 17, 2000, letter to Jonathan Chew, the executive director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials, Ms Gulick wrote, “To put it very simply, the proposed location for the [new] western ramp will come so close to the house that I doubt if anyone could or would live there. The noise and the fumes of the traffic [that would be] braking and starting at all hours of the day and night, and the effect of sanding the ramp in winter [would eliminate] the possibility of anything green growing as a sound and sight barrier…”

Ms Gulick notes that, in the past, the state made major changes to her property in connection with the original construction of I-84.

In the late 1950s, the state raised the level of Church Hill Road by about 14 feet in front of the Sanford house, changing what had been a house that looked down onto Church Hill Road into a house which sat in a low spot alongside an elevated road. Also, the state then relocated several outbuildings on the property and moved the driveway from the west side to the east side of the house. The state had acquired a piece of the property at 68 Church Hill Road for the I-84 construction project, resulting in some of those changes.

In her letter to Mr Chew, Ms Gulick writes, “Considering the extent to which the state, in the past, has gone to keep all the buildings intact and usable, I hope something can [now] be worked out to keep the barns and house usable and all together.” Ms Gulick urges that the DOT not alter her property.

In a July 19, 2000, letter to Francis Zapatka, a DOT supervising planner, Daniel Cruson, Newtown’s historian, writes, “I must protest these [interchange] plans and request that an alternate configuration of the exit ramps be engineered.

“The house is one of the few remaining structures associated with Newtown’s proprietors, and both the house and its barns were an important part of the economic development of our town and, as such, they must be preserved. I implore you to seek another way to route the exit ramp so that it will not further destroy Newtown’s heritage. Too much of that heritage has already been lost with the construction of the original I-84. Please help us keep from losing what little is left,” Mr Cruson writes.

In a study of the Sanford house prepared by Paul Graney, a historic preservation consultant, Mr Graney writes that the house is an architecturally significant, excellent example of Colonial-era building practices. It also is significant how its later owners architecturally adapted the house to their particular needs, he adds.

Five generations of the Sanford family lived in the house while becoming influential Sandy Hook businessmen, according to Mr Graney.

The Connecticut Historical Commission will review Mr Graney’s detailed report in considering the Sanford house for inclusion on the State Register of Historic Places.

Being on the register identifies a building and site as being historically significant and encourages its preservation. It also enables state agencies to fully consider the significance of such properties in the early stages of planning projects, such as highway reconstruction projects.

Being on the register, however, does not prohibit such reconstruction projects.