By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — The development team planning to remodel the Inn at Longshore was sent back to the drawing board Tuesday when the Architectural Review Board found the plans fail to understand how Westporters feel about the waterfront landmark.

Board members particularly disliked how the renovations would change the inn’s appearance, both in front and back, with over-large structures added to the core building and removal of its distinctive dome.

“I do not support the project as submitted,” said Ward French, the ARB chairman. “I’d like to see more work done.”

His opinion was echoed by every other board member attending the virtual meeting, and the panel voted unanimously to require the design be modified and resubmitted.

The renovations have been proposed under a 30-year lease approved last year with Longshore Hospitality Group, which took over operations of the inn in 2020. Under the lease, the management team will invest $8 million to renovate the premises, and 18.8 percent of the inn’s revenue will go to the town, estimated at about $1 million per year.

The original structure was built in 1890 as a private mansion, and later became the centerpiece of a golf course that was purchased in 1960 by the town.

Some of the proposed renovations were appreciated by ARB members, such as moving the front entrance to align with a hallway at the center of the inn and opening up views of the water from the front to back of the building. Interior changes, such as reconfiguring the ballroom to sit on one level, also met with their approval.

Other modifications presented by the architectural firm Kenneth R. Nadler Consulting LLC, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., include creating a bridal suite for the many weddings held there, adding more guest rooms and upgrades including replacing all the windows, roofing and siding.

But plans to build a large entrance structure — a porte cochere — of about 800 square feet at the front entrance, and a multi-level series of rooftops in back with “Juliet”-style balcony fences, would be out of character with the inn’s architectural history, the board members agreed.

“This is a town landmark … a quirky old building … what are they turning it into?” asked board member Jon Halper. “What is the architectural goal of the project?”

The design presented to the ARB has already been modified from plans filed earlier with the Planning and Zoning Commission. The original application for an 8-24 land-use report required by the state was withdrawn and resubmitted, with some changes, including a reconfiguration of the front entrance and reduction in the size of the porte cochere. But the scale of the reduction was inadequate, according to ARB members.

Besides agreeing the entrance structure would be too large, several members said the plan as presented Tuesday would create a building that no longer had a visual focus. 

“They removed something that was iconic and didn’t replace it with anything,” board member Vesna Herman said of the dome over the back of the inn. “It has a history. People are connected to it.”

The plans do not include remodeling the restaurant, which several board members said was a problem because the restaurant’s position at the rear of the building limits how that area can be revamped.

Asked why the restaurant wasn’t included in the renovation project, Nadler answered with one word: “Money.”

The P&Z is now expected to review the 8-24 application at its May 6 meeting. A Coastal Site Plan is also required for the project.

Longshore Hospitality Group expects to start the renovation project in 2025.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.