By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — Nothing with the Golden Shadows mansion at the Baron’s South property seems to happen quickly.
The town acquired the two-story, brick Georgian Colonial Revival-style residence — formerly owned by perfume designer “Baron” Walter Langer and his wife, Evelyn — in 1999 with its purchase of the Evyan Perfume magnate’s 22-acre estate.
Since then, the 1959 structure has sat largely unused, except for storage of some town equipment and books from the library — so many books, in fact, it damaged the floors.
The lower end of the sprawling property, off Imperial Avenue, has been put to some use, but the residence and its surroundings on the higher ground off Compo Road South have been largely idle.
Around the residence, wild strawberry plants and tall grass cover the ground, and invasive wineberry shrubs are prevalent. Deer bed down during the day near the rear patio.
Recently, the structure’s status was due for an update by the Selectman’s Maintenance Study Committee. According to the town website, the group completes studies of major properties owned by the town, and reviews buildings that might be purchased or demolished by the town. It reports to the first selectwoman.
What seemed like a periodic update of a maintenance report has become something other than routine.
A small but interested group of people, including some in official positions, has weighed in. They’ve had questions and criticisms, and the discussion has once again raised concerns about the building’s future.
At a meeting in June, the committee first discussed the report. A vote was not taken. In addition to questions from attendees, two new members of the committee mentioned they had never been to Golden Shadows, so a site visit was set for a couple days later.
After the visit, the report was updated, and discussed again at the maintenance committee’s meeting Tuesday morning. Once again, a vote was delayed so questions from the public could be addressed.
John F. Suggs, a former Representative Town Meeting member from District 5 and a past candidate for first selectman, was not pleased with the initial version of the report last month.
“I really felt the report was rushed, cobbled together from the last one and kicking the can down the road,” he said. “No clear leadership from the maintenance committee to provide the selectwomen advice on how to maintain and utilize it.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, he questioned some of the spending estimates, including $50,000 annually for Golden Shadows’ utilities and maintenance.
The committee also estimated the cost of needed repairs at $1 million. Suggs thought that was high.
“What did you base that on?” he asked.
“We based that on the rusting lintels above the windows,” Chairman Joseph Fuller said. “The defective patios, the roof gutters, which need most likely to be relined, the chimney repointing, which was discovered by the drone photographs, and other items.”
Suggs said there’s always room for negotiation.
“This is a public building, so any kind of work here would be designed, bid and built,” Fuller replied. “You would have a competitive bidding process.”
Sal Liccione, an RTM member from District 9, at Tuesday’s meeting pushed for more maintenance.
Earlier this month, he said any decision about the building’s future should involve the Representative Town Meeting and include input from the public.
Baron’s South is in his district, he said, and he strongly favors keeping the historic structure.
“I’ll fight tooth and nail if I have to,” he said.
“The inside needs to be fixed up,” he said. “We need to do something with it, fix it up and rent it out, use it for events. It’s a beautiful facility.”
Deer make good use of the town-owned Golden Shadows estate on the Baron’s South property. / Photo by Thane Grauel.
Selectwoman Andrea Moore has been attending the committee meetings, and said earlier the Golden Shadows report was a routine review.
“There are no action points from this,” she said. “It’s an ongoing review of maintenance.”
“I don’t think anything was drastically different. It’s an old building that’s a little bit older now.”
She noted the building has little parking and its grounds are uneven.
“It’s a tricky location, difficult to get into,” she said.
The Selectman’s Maintenance Study Committee’s next regular meeting is at 8 a.m. Aug. 16 in Town Hall.
Thane Grauel, the Westport Journal executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Learn more about us here.
See below to read the latest (but not final) version of the maintenance report.
Meetings held at 8:00 AM in the middle of summer are not likely to maximize public comment.
At least this do-nothing committee bothered to publically notice the meeting. Their previous meeting, not so much.
It should be noted that Golden Shadows is designated as a contributing resource on the State Register of Historic Places. This status makes it all the more egregious that the town has neglected its routine care.
As homeowners, we all invest money in our homes regularly. We paint them, repair leaks, replace roofs, pave or re-gravel our driveways, etc. Yet, despite four reports since 2014 that have highlighted the same maintenance needs at Golden Shadows, the town continues to ignore those reports.
Like Mr. Suggs, I also question the claim that 50K is spent annually on Golden Shadows. I’ve been in it numerous times and I walk around its exterior frequently. No way can that be true. Let’s see some actual line item accounting to back-up that claim.
Many might call this sort of treatment “demolition by neglect.” That’s a really bad look for the Town of Westport, especially given Golden Shadow’s historic status.
Another week and yet another example of appalling municipal incompetence. Unforgivable. The Maintenance Study Committee – which, if memory serves, spends the bulk of its time discussing golf, likely has no idea that the taxpayers recently paid for a comprehensive plan to repurpose this building – complete with ADA access, appropriate parking and a new, code compliant access road. Naturally, it’s sitting on a shelf in Town Hall.