By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A home of one of the town’s early families is being considered for apartments, including affordable units.

Richard Redniss of Redniss & Mead, a Stamford firm, has asked for a pre-application review of the proposal by the Planning and Zoning Commission. A presentation on the plan is on Monday’s P&Z agenda, scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

A “pre-application” gives a developer the opportunity to get feedback before a formal application is filed.

Redniss, on behalf of a contract buyer, 50 PRW LLC, is seeking a text amendment to zoning regulations to allow reuse of the main building and a smaller one in the rear, for a total of 14 apartments. 

The plan would add a third floor for loft units in the larger building, which sits about halfway down the Post Road West hill to downtown.

Once home to history, now affordability?

The main structure, a Greek Revival building with a steep front lawn, dates to between 1835 and 1845. It was the home of Capt. Frederick Sherwood, according documents included in the pre-application filing.

Sherwood’s family had their homestead on an island that is now part of Sherwood Island State Park. His wife was a Burr, another old-time Westport name.

The Post Road West house had two wings added, probably after 1880, according to a Historic Resources Inventory report from the town’s Historic District Commission in 2011.

It’s not the only affordable housing proposal in the neighborhood.

Catty-corner across Post Road West, between Cross and Lincoln streets, a 68-unit apartment complex is planned, 30 percent of them affordable. The project initially was turned down by the Planning and Zoning Commission, but the developer successfully appealed in court, and scaled down the size in an agreement with the town last year..

14 apartments across two buildings

Floor plans filed with a pre-application document to the Planning and Zoning Department envision 11 apartments in the larger building, including some on a new third floor.

Three more apartments are apparently envisioned for the smaller structure up the driveway, which was last used for offices. A floor plan for the smaller house is not yet on file with the Planning and Zoning Department.

The main structure is one door away from the corner of Wright Street, halfway down the hill’s dip toward the Saugatuck River. Fifty West State St. (known earlier as 48 Post Road West) housed offices for various businesses after the family sold it.

It has been vacant and up for sale a decade, according to the applicant, who says it now is dilapidated.

A legacy of Sherwoods and Burrs

The structure was “the home of Captain Frederick Sherwood, son of Daniel and Catherine Burr Sherwood,” reads the town’s historic inventory report. “Frederick was one of the triplets born in the Sherwood House on Sherwood Island. The house was landscaped with plants from China.”

“This is a prominent Greek Revival Temple form building on the Post Road West with a view of the Saugatuck River where Captain Sherwood could keep a watchful eye on his packet boat business located on the west bank of the river next to (south) of the Westport bridge.”

The report also mentions that, “In 1874 Frederick Sherwood was elected Foreman of the Vigilant Engine Company No. 3.”

Vigilant, at 6 Wilton Road, is a stone’s throw down the hill from the house. A half-century ago, it was still a working firehouse. 

The brick structure has since found new life as a home for various sleek businesses, most recently, the restaurant OKO. No more oil-stained floor, damp canvas hoses or American Lafrance apparatus.