December 10, 2004
Vandals at the Gates
According to a recent article in Greenwich Time, the 1854 Italianate house at 350 Riversville Road is about to be demolished by Jupiter LLC, a “developer” headed by one Steven Hatch who, if a search of the local phone directory is any indication, has come from out of town to wreak mischief. I inspected this house when it was on the market a year ago and at that time it certainly seemed to be well worth preserving. Almost all of the original details: exterior trim, interior mouldings, windows, floors, even ornamental cast iron fireplace shields are intact. The house has suffered from a lack of maintenance over the years but careful restoration could yield a beautiful result and return this house to its original graceful beauty. But that won’t happen, alas. Hatch, again according to Greenwich Time, has refused all entreaties from local preservationists and Greenwich’s town planner to save the house and fully intends to raze the structure and replace it with a new one.
It is possible, although unlikely, that Hatch’s new house will be as beautiful as what he is destroying. I don’t believe that for an instant, of course; it is far more likely that he’ll be erecting a training mansion for a young egomaniac but either way, so what? One doesn’t scrape the paint off a Degas in order to reuse the canvas. There are plenty of building lots in Greenwich, even of they’re presently occupied with woeful examples of bad architecture. Hatch and his partners could easily have bought one of those and bulldozed away to their merry content. To buy this particular lot with the specific intention of tearing down one of the town’s oldest, prettiest buildings, betrays a complete lack of cultural appreciation and historical ignorance. When the Vandals sacked Rome, they destroyed what they found because they had no idea of the value of hot water baths and interior plumbing. I’m not suggesting that the Jupiter LLC partners still employ outhouses in their own residences, nor that they are members of the great unwashed, but their decision to demolish this house speaks volumes about their values. Welcome to the new Greenwich, courtesy of Steve Hatch and Jupiter LLC.
On a Brighter Note
Not everything is being torn down in town. For instance, a house at the end of Shoal Point Lane in Riverside had been scheduled to be razed and replaced by a six thousand square foot (plus!) shingle style somethingorother was instead purchased by an “end user” who seems content with replacing the roof shingles and re-doing the interior. I’m a bit biased about this — the new structure would have ruined my own view up Ole’s Creek — but it’s still nice to see that older houses can be brought up to date without calling in the wrecker’s ball.
Market Activity Continues
Well, sort of. Twenty-three houses went to contract in the past two weeks (top prices, 605 North Street for $12,000,000 and new construction at 75 Sterling Road, $5,450,000) while thirty-nine were withdrawn, forty-seven dropped their price and sixty-eight new listings came to market. Of the new listings, perhaps the most notable is Sally Maloney’s at 68 Round Hill Road: Eleven acres in the two acre zone, with a nice, old, castle-like home. At present the property shares a driveway with another residence and that, of course, can sometimes prove problematic but I assume that there’s enough land here to try a different approach. Or not; it’s a great piece of land, and one of the largest this close to town. $14, 670,000. Downstream a bit from that price, Barbie Jackson (Cleveland, Duble & Arnold) has listed 15 Miltiades Avenue in Riverside for $1,595,000. This is a 1928 Tudor, updated over the years, on a dead end street within walking distance of the train and Riverside School. In fact, you could walk to the back of the very nice yard, hop the fence and be on top of a train, but that’s a quibble. I have a number of friends who have lived on Miltiades and Summit Road, another street backing up to the tracks, who have stayed put happily for many years and invested large sums in improving their homes. Although they could all move elsewhere, they’re staying put. The few trains running on the New Haven line are relatively quiet and soon unnoticeable, not, I suspect, like the constant noise of I-95. If this house were on another street it might sell for $2,000,000. My advice would be to buy this one and pocket the difference.
According to a recent article in Greenwich Time, the 1854 Italianate house at 350 Riversville Road is about to be demolished by Jupiter LLC, a “developer” headed by one Steven Hatch who, if a search of the local phone directory is any indication, has come from out of town to wreak mischief. I inspected this house when it was on the market a year ago and at that time it certainly seemed to be well worth preserving. Almost all of the original details: exterior trim, interior mouldings, windows, floors, even ornamental cast iron fireplace shields are intact. The house has suffered from a lack of maintenance over the years but careful restoration could yield a beautiful result and return this house to its original graceful beauty. But that won’t happen, alas. Hatch, again according to Greenwich Time, has refused all entreaties from local preservationists and Greenwich’s town planner to save the house and fully intends to raze the structure and replace it with a new one.
It is possible, although unlikely, that Hatch’s new house will be as beautiful as what he is destroying. I don’t believe that for an instant, of course; it is far more likely that he’ll be erecting a training mansion for a young egomaniac but either way, so what? One doesn’t scrape the paint off a Degas in order to reuse the canvas. There are plenty of building lots in Greenwich, even of they’re presently occupied with woeful examples of bad architecture. Hatch and his partners could easily have bought one of those and bulldozed away to their merry content. To buy this particular lot with the specific intention of tearing down one of the town’s oldest, prettiest buildings, betrays a complete lack of cultural appreciation and historical ignorance. When the Vandals sacked Rome, they destroyed what they found because they had no idea of the value of hot water baths and interior plumbing. I’m not suggesting that the Jupiter LLC partners still employ outhouses in their own residences, nor that they are members of the great unwashed, but their decision to demolish this house speaks volumes about their values. Welcome to the new Greenwich, courtesy of Steve Hatch and Jupiter LLC.
On a Brighter Note
Not everything is being torn down in town. For instance, a house at the end of Shoal Point Lane in Riverside had been scheduled to be razed and replaced by a six thousand square foot (plus!) shingle style somethingorother was instead purchased by an “end user” who seems content with replacing the roof shingles and re-doing the interior. I’m a bit biased about this — the new structure would have ruined my own view up Ole’s Creek — but it’s still nice to see that older houses can be brought up to date without calling in the wrecker’s ball.
Market Activity Continues
Well, sort of. Twenty-three houses went to contract in the past two weeks (top prices, 605 North Street for $12,000,000 and new construction at 75 Sterling Road, $5,450,000) while thirty-nine were withdrawn, forty-seven dropped their price and sixty-eight new listings came to market. Of the new listings, perhaps the most notable is Sally Maloney’s at 68 Round Hill Road: Eleven acres in the two acre zone, with a nice, old, castle-like home. At present the property shares a driveway with another residence and that, of course, can sometimes prove problematic but I assume that there’s enough land here to try a different approach. Or not; it’s a great piece of land, and one of the largest this close to town. $14, 670,000. Downstream a bit from that price, Barbie Jackson (Cleveland, Duble & Arnold) has listed 15 Miltiades Avenue in Riverside for $1,595,000. This is a 1928 Tudor, updated over the years, on a dead end street within walking distance of the train and Riverside School. In fact, you could walk to the back of the very nice yard, hop the fence and be on top of a train, but that’s a quibble. I have a number of friends who have lived on Miltiades and Summit Road, another street backing up to the tracks, who have stayed put happily for many years and invested large sums in improving their homes. Although they could all move elsewhere, they’re staying put. The few trains running on the New Haven line are relatively quiet and soon unnoticeable, not, I suspect, like the constant noise of I-95. If this house were on another street it might sell for $2,000,000. My advice would be to buy this one and pocket the difference.
posted by Chris Fountain at 8:12 AM
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