By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A certain house perched above Old Mill Beach is suddenly looking a lot less blue.

No. 233 Hillspoint Road has been ensconced in house wrap for several years. It did a long stretch on the town’s list of blighted properties and was the subject of much litigation.

In recent decades it had been a home to restaurants before being converted to a residential dwelling lot. But a developer strayed beyond the approved plans and stop-work orders, lawsuits, including one brought by neighbors, ensued.

In January the house got new owners, Summit Westport LLC, and work has been going on there off and on, reversing the unallowed features installed by previous owners.

On Monday, workers could be seen on the property installing siding that looked like a sandy gray color. Some were aloft in a boom lift. Little by little, plank by plank, blue was obliterated.

By late afternoon, much of the street-facing side of the house had been sided, and a little of the sides. The side viewed from the beach and Long Island Sound was still all blue. (Some have said mariners use the blue house as a navigational aid, they might soon need another.)

When Summit bought the troubled property, it inherited a stipulated agreement that came out of the neighbors’ suit. After asking for some tweaks to the plan, the Zoning Board of Appeals agreed, and later granted an extension on the project timeline, requiring the siding work be completed by today, Aug. 6.

Whether that’ll happen remains to be seen. James Pendry, principal of Summit Westport, could not be reached Monday evening.

In addition to the Aug. 6 siding deadline, the remaining work is to be completed by Sept. 2.

“He’s making some progress, which we’re very excited about,” Building Official Steve Smith said. “If he can make some substantial progress in the next couple of weeks, I think we’ll be happy.”

“There might be light at the end of the tunnel,” Smith said.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 36 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.