By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — An owner’s attempt to demolish a Short Street home and build a new one quickly hit a snag Tuesday when the Historic District Commission refused to waive the 180-day waiting period imposed before a house with historical value can be torn down.

Three HDC members suggested that in order to save the house at 7 Short St. it instead might be used as an accessory structure or moved off the property.

Commission member Wendy Van Wie called the house, built in 1923, “a storybook cottage,” and opposed the owner’s request to waive the 180-day demolition delay, which would have allowed the dwelling to be demolished immediately.

“We will work with you for ways to keep the house,” she told the owner, Katherine Halso.

Halso and her husband, Michael Francia, purchased the home on a quarter-acre lot for $1 million in May of this year, according to records from the town Assessor’s Office.

They moved to Westport recently from New York City, Halso said, and are eager to settle into their new home as soon as possible. The existing house sits far back in the lot, making it difficult to construct additions, and is not large enough for their needs. “We would really like to make it something that we can live in for many years,” she said of the property.

But instead of demolishing the house to build a new one, Van Wie suggested the couple “keep the cottage as an ADU [accessory dwelling unit] and build your new house as an addition to it,” perhaps as an income-producing property. 

However, when Halso said she and her husband have no interest in creating a separate rental property on their land, Van Wie and commission Chairwoman Grayson Braun suggested an alternate plan — moving the house off the property to save it.

“I would love to see this house saved,” Braun said. “Taking the main block of house and using it as an accessory unit” on another property.

She suggested contacting Preservation Connecticut, a nonprofit organization that helps with funding and advocacy for the preservation of historic buildings and sites.

Van Wie also suggested that perhaps advertising in local news outlets that the historic home is available to be moved to another property might attract interest.

“We would love to work with you to see how we can help — to support [saving] the house,” Braun said.

Benjamin Levites, an alternate member of the commission, agreed that the commission should “take extra care” when considering demolishing the Short Street house. “It seems like this house has historical value and there is some merit to preserving the property if it can be,” he said.

Commission members appeared particularly moved by comments from Kevin Wansa, of 5 Short St., next-door neighbor of Halso’s property. His mother owned the house at 7 Short St. several years ago, he said, and had restored it. “I think it has so much historic value,” he said, adding the site was once a trail for donkeys servicing a long-ago demolished mill. “It means so much to me,” he said of the property. “You could build a separate addition” for additional living space, he suggested.

Wansa’s comments helped sway the commission in favor of keeping the 180-day demolition delay in force, according to Braun. “It’s pretty rare to get neighbors in opposition. It weighs heavy on us,” she said.

Halso had no other comments on how she felt about the commission’s suggestions before or after the panel voted 2-to-1 to oppose issuance of a demolition permit until the full 180-day waiting period expires, so other possibilities for saving the house might be considered.

Commission member Arthur Hayes cast the lone vote against maintaining the 180-day demolition delay. “I have no problem waiving it,” he said.

Sniffen Road demolition can proceed

The HDC, however, on Tuesday did vote to waive the demolition delay for a house at 25 Sniffen Road.

That house is located in a neighborhood where some homeowners had considered applying to become a new local historic district last March.

Amy Zipkin, a proponent of creating that historic district, joined Tuesday’s meeting, saying she was concerned about yet another house in the area being demolished. She still supports establishing a historic district there, she said.

Braun, however, reminded her that several homeowners who had originally signed the petition required for an area to be designated a local historic district withdrew their signatures when they learned about some of the restrictions on properties within a historic district.

 The commission voted unanimously to waive the demolition delay for the Sniffen Road house, allowing it to be torn down before the 180-day waiting period expires.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist and journalism teacher for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman newspaper for 10 years and teaches journalism at Southern Connecticut State University.