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HARWINTON HOUSE IN ITS LAST DAYS
IN NEW CANAAN
This past winter (2010-2011)
has proved to be a milestone in the long life of "Harwinton
House". The good folks in New Canaan have watched
over our house for the last 80 years after it had spent
136 years growing up in Harwinton. Like so many of our
pure Harwintonians, sometimes after you've moved away,
it becomes time to come home again. It is now time for
"Harwinton House", as its called by its New
Canaan Foster parents, to return home again.
I have always thought
that no one individual really owns a historic house,
we are simply the current tenants. In this case, the
last tenants moved out on June 25th, 2009. The property
at 585 Canoe Hill Road has been sold and a new, modern
house has been built on the property leaving no room
for our old friend to continue its proud service to
the list of impressive tenants it has hosted over the
214 years of its existence as a residential home.
Through the very
impressive efforts of the New Canaan Preservation Alliance,
"Harwinton House" is now on the State Register
of Historic Places. The New Canaan Historical Society
embraced this house as one of their own years ago. One
towns loss is another towns gain. However, in this case
it's like an adopted child who has reconnected with
its biological parents. The proud legacy of this house
belongs to both towns who have played host to its very
existence.
As the relocation
takes place, it's progress will be tracked here.
Although “Harwinton
House” has been saved from the fate of demolition,
there is no guarantee that it will be resurrected anytime
soon. The town of Harwinton has a piece of land that
certainly is a possible location for the eventual relocation,
but we need to explore other locations as well. Ideally
more than one possible location within the town can
be found and then the proper feasibility studies can
be performed. It will probably be a few months before
a site selection is actually chosen.
The biggest obstacle for the
resurrection of Harwinton House is funding. The dismantling,
documentation and transportation are all covered with
a STEAP grant that is in place now. The grant would
also cover some of the site preparation including foundation,
septic and a well. Raising the house is a totally different
situation as little funding exists right now. Our historical
society has a little bit of available funds but, we
are probably looking at 300 – 350K needed to complete
the resurrection. There are matching grants available
that we can apply for but even at best case, we need
to raise very significant funding and might be as high
as 150k if we are lucky enough to be awarded matching
grants.
Although it was a major step
forward to save the house, there are many more steps
to go before we can walk through that wonderful front
door again. Unfortunately, some of those steps loom
as very large obstacles.
Our goal is to create a headquarters
for our Historical Society as well as a museum where
their artifacts and records can be displayed as well
as the complete story of the house with its important
history in the woods of Harwinton and the community
of New Canaan.
Tax deductable Donations
can be made directly to the town by mailing a check
to:
Town of Harwinton
Harwinton House Restoration
P.O. Box 66
Harwinton, CT. 06791
OR
A tax
deductable donation may be made to the
Harwinton Historical Society, Inc. with instructions
that it is for the Harwinton House Rebuild Project.
Mail to:
Harwinton Historical
Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 84
Harwinton, CT. 06791
As the eventual
tenant of the restored building, the Harwinton Historical
Society, Inc. (a 501c3 organization) will make periodic
donations to the town, of any money collected for this
project via fund raisers and/or donations.
Historical Society Presents a $25,000 donation
on August 10th, 2012
Left to Right: Rog Plaskett-V.P. Historical Society;
Mike Criss-1st Selectman; Dick Pacholski-Pres. Historical
Society; Harry Schue-Tres. Historical Society.
For progress updates
and timelines 
For Channel 3 Interview
with Dan Kain March
15th
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