Thurber Homestead Receives National Register Recognition

By Nancy K. Crevier

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic properties recognized by the Federal Government as worthy of preservation for their significance in American history, according to the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. The Caleb Baldwin Tavern at 32 Main Street, now a private home, the Glover (Budd) House at 50 Main Street, the Nathan B. Lattin Farm on Walker Hill Road, and the Fabric Fire Hose building, formerly known as the New York Belting and Packing Company, on Glen Road are among a number of buildings and sites so designated in Newtown.

As of June 21, the home of Peter and Karen Alpi at 71 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook joined the lofty list of historical residences recognized by the National Register. Mr and Mrs Alpi received notice of the inclusion of the Sanford-Curtis-Thurber House on Saturday, August 11, and were pleased that the two-year process had come to good closure.

Built for Thomas Sanford, Sr, in the early 1800s, according to documentation gathered by architectural historian Kate Ohno for the Alpis, the Georgian farmhouse later became the property of the prominent Curtis family, one of the early 18th Century settlers of Newtown. The gracefully proportioned home with fine appointments was a beautiful example of that architectural style, but it is the home’s later association with humorist writer and cartoonist James Thurber that holds the significance worthy of being listed in the National Register.

The house was purchased in 1931 by James Thurber’s first wife, Althea, and was used by the Thurbers as a vacation home for several years. Thurber’s autobiographical My Life and Hard Times was written during the period in which he called the 71 Riverside Road house his home. It was while he lived in Sandy Hook, too, that James Thurber established himself as a regular contributor to The New Yorker, with at least seven of his essays set in the Sandy Hook house.

Mr and Mrs Alpi were not sure that the Thurber mentioned in the house listing was “the” James Thurber when they first looked at the house in 1998.

“We thought maybe it was just some revolutionary figure with a similar name,” said Mr Alpi. Although not big Thurber fans when they moved into the residence, Mr Alpi said that they have over time come to appreciate the melancholic writer and artist.

“We have become James Thurber fans. He’s quite amusing,” said Mr Alpi. “I thought [having the house listed on the National Register] would be a nice honor to Mr Thurber,” he added.

Part of the application process involved Mr Alpi writing a letter to Thurber’s daughter, Rosemary, who lives in Michigan. Former owners of 71 Riverside Road, Mr and Mrs Allan Coster, had discovered original James Thurber drawings beneath layers of wallpaper in an attic room. The doodlings of clowns, fishing at Riverside, and animal portraits were crafted in his loose, distinctive style. The panels were carefully removed in 1976 and are part of The James Thurber Collection at Ohio State University, where Thurber once attended school. Mr Alpi was granted permission by Rosemary Thurber to have the university make copies of those drawings that had once graced the walls of his home, a requirement to justify the application.

While Ms Ohno did all of the history, research, and filing of the application papers, Mr Alpi and Newtown Historical Society President Lincoln Sanders made a presentation in March at a hearing held by the State Historic Preservation Board. “The nomination was unanimously accepted,” said Mr Alpi, and then sent on from there to the Keeper of the National Register at the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, of which the National Register of Historic Places is a part.

“It is, no doubt, the fact the Thurber wrote some of his better known books here that the house was accepted into the National Register,” said Mr Alpi.

Placement on the National Register does not result in restrictions to the property, said Mr Alpi, although he would probably consult with the agency before making any structural changes to the façade. Nor are there tax breaks or incentives for a private homeowner. What a listing in the National Register does entitle the Alpis to is the eligibility to purchase an historical marker from the State Historic Preservation Officer.

“And we probably will,” he said.

The markings Thurber left behind in the Sandy Hook home are no longer there, but the impact made on Sandy Hook by the humorist is now an official part of local history.