Historic District Commission Minutes 06/06/2013 ADOPTED
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION MINUTES
JUNE 6, 2013
REGULAR MEETING
I. ROLL CALL
Commission members present were HRH Chairman Ken Feder, Jonathan Laschever, Betty Woollacott, Marc Lubetkin. Chairman Feder called the meeting to order at 7:32 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room. Also in attendance were Lynn Charest, Zoning Enforcement Officer, and Janis Prifti, Commission Clerk, and other interested parties.
II. APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES
Chairman Feder appointed Commissioner Lubetkin to serve as an alternate for Diane Mead and Commissioner Laschever to serve as an alternate for Denise Alfeld.
III. DISCUSSION ITEMS
a. Presentation by Rachel Carley, SCLG Consultant
150+ properties in West Simsbury to the bottom of Bushy Hill Road and the northeast corner near the airport off Wolcott Road have been documented by the Consultant. A number of old maps were utilized, including one for Hartford County from 1850 showing family names that line up easily with a given road today, e.g. the Case Family farm in West Simsbury and Farms Village Road. Residential architecture revealed the oldest farm house type typically had a center chimney, e.g. the Tuller Homestead and the A.G. Case house built right after the Revolution; these were beautiful large timber frame houses built by affluent farmers. Next was the Federal period style with simple elegant facades, e.g. the Peter Buell ? house built about 1810 with bricks excavated on his land. The Masa Bacon house built 10-20 years later had a center hall with the chimneys moved to the end of the building and was built of sandstone brought down from ridges to the west on stone boats.
In about 1830-40, quite a few Greek revival style houses were built where the gable end of the house was turned toward the street and treated as the front of the building; e.g. Asa Hoskins and Noah Hoskins' houses on Hoskins Road were built by John Shaw for $150 to be similar; a triangular pattern in the gable is a feature of the house. The Shephard house was built with sandstone in 1830 in West Simsbury center and was embellished 50 years later in the Victorian era with a raised gable; it has maintained an important feature of a beautiful wrought iron gate and fence. Across the street is the original creamery building for Tuller Farm which in the 1880's produced 200-300 lbs. of butter a day in the basement; the upstairs was used by the West Simsbury Community Club. In 1926, the current Simsbury Grange building was built for the Community Club and later turned over to the Grange. The archival photos were generously provided by the Simsbury Historical Society. While most farmers had herds of 2-3 cows, by the early 1900's Oliver D. and his son Oliver C. Tuller had a larger herd which grew to 131 Holsteins by 1976 allowing sale of dairy products; by 2003 the herd numbered 75 and was sold as they transitioned to a beef herd. The General Store in West Simsbury was built in 1923 and was a significant commercial structure for the Town; the original store burned in 1922; the barn complex behind the building survived the fire.
The barn at Ethel Walker School on the west side of Bushy Hill Road was part of the original Dodge estate and in recent years was restored by the School. The site was purchased by Ethel Walker in 1917 for the school. The Dodge house stood where the main Ethel Walker building is now located and reflected the country estate fashion of the time for New York City financiers like Dodge to establish large dairy farms. A 1923 fire insurance map reflects this story.
Two barns were located on Hopbrook Road and belonged to the Whitman family - one toward the middle on the north side and another at the corner of Great Pond Road. The larger barn was built by John Collins Eddy, a truck and produce farmer in the 1930's. The other barn is now part of property for a new house on Teacher's Way. The other barn was sold to Oren Kilborn who established Orkil Farms in 1928 and converted it to a dairy barn. Another nearby barn that was part of the Mahoney Farm in the 1940's-50's was purchased by the Covenant Presbyterian Church in the '60's and renovated with the upper hayloft left as a sanctuary for the church with the cross hanging from the bailer track with stained glass at each end. The old silo was converted to a meditation silo. Oren Kilborn lived at the former Holcomb place on Old Farms Road and had one of the most fruitful orchards in the state; a 1934 view of Orkil Farms showed acres of orchards which is now the Simsbury Farms complex; what is now the complex office was the Apple Barn where community life was centered, including a merry-go-round. The Kilborn's were avid hunt riders and hosted events; the stable now belongs to another property and has been preserved.
Senator George McLean and his aunt, Sara Abernathy's house built in 1895 is now the nursing home. Upon his aunt's death, he inherited $3 Million and expanded his land holdings in Town to 4000 acres until his death in 1932, much of which is the core of the McLean Game Refuge. He was a hobbyist dairy farmer and the country club was the main dairy farm at Holly Farm which operated until the 1950's, the era of demise for most Town dairy farms. Work began on the club house in 1962.
Other discoveries included the one-room Union District school house on the corner of Firetown and Holcomb Roads which operated until 1922 educating students up to the 8th grade; Simsbury did not have a high school until 1902. These schools were the heart of the education system; the Town voted to close the school in 1930. In the 1960's, the building was owned by General Cigar Company. The nearby triangle of land served as a horse race track as part of the 1st Town fairgrounds and was later owned by Culman Brothers.
Another structure was a 1920's bungalow on Bushy Hill Road with the Rosita building plan having been marketed by Sears Roebuck.
Another structure was at Halls Farm in back near the big barn; this was the little shop of a cobbler making rubber shoes for fuse workers at Ensign Bickford that could have no potentially incendiary nails or tacks.
The rich tobacco farming history in the Town is represented by tobacco barns, including the Culbro Barns on Hoskins. A barn on Wolcott Road shows 2 types of ventilation to cure tobacco; on top the boards are hinged and lift up horizontally similar to venetian blinds. There were also boarding houses and camps where workers slept and ate allowing control of the workforce in a self-contained community. The tobacco farms worked with colleges from the south, including Morehouse, and their student Martin Luther King spent the summers of 1943 and 1945 in Simsbury at which time he decided to become a preacher.
A 1980 photo of Firetown Road shows 5 barns owned by Culbro and one owned by the Town as part of open space. Many more tobacco barns are discussed in the report.
Additionally, the Town Farm was given to the Town in 1882 by philanthropist Amos Eno as a poor farm which was a long tradition in Connecticut and mandated by statute in the 1600's. The farm purchased on Wolcott Road provided room and board in exchange for work. It is now used as affordable housing as specified in the gift to the Town that it always be used to benefit Simsbury's needy. The Starline designed gambrel-roofed dairy barn was a WPA project very well-built by Simsbury workers; the ground level milking parlor is now used for programs.
The Flamig Farm is over 100 years old; the Wilcox farmhouse was purchased by the Flamig's in 1907 who built up a dairy farm and then egg operation. There was also an ice house on the farm.
It was confirmed that the Culbro boarding house is still owned by them and is not in very good shape. The Meadowood development includes these structures.
The Commissioners felt this was a wonderful narrative and engaging slide presentation and discussed how to make it part of the cell phone walking tour. A final version of the report will be delivered to the Commission and will contain recommendations for National Register designations; local districts were not included as a goal of this project. Once the village district format is established, it could be used to protect the quality of a neighborhood. The Town owns Town Farm and it qualifies for National Register as a site.
Every property in the document has its own form with all its significance and history and can be looked up by address. The writeup on the barn tours was very helpful in writing the report. Every photo in the study is tagged with coordinates and can be put on the GIS; there are 150 properties. There is a gerrymandered section of the Town left and some pre-planning would be required for one more survey integrating the studies. The 1970's Hopmeadow study likely needs updating; also the Tarriffville area is on the National Registry and consideration could be given to whether a survey is needed. The consultant was happy to work with the Town and enjoyed the layers of history and recommended good planning before seeking another grant.
GIS for this material will be available in the future and is funded. However, narrating the stories is not funded and the Chairman will follow up with a contact at the Historic Society about it.
Commissioner Laschever made a motion to accept the report presented by Rachel Carley. Commissioner Lubetkin seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
IV. OTHER MATTERS AS MAY PROPERLY BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE COMMISSION
Bob McCusker would like to put an above-ground swimming pool behind his house with 2 panels of stockade fence obscuring its view. The Commissioners discussed that an above-ground pool is a non-permanent structure and does not require a COA; it was suggested Town Staff write on the permit that the pool should not be visible from the road.
Next to Rosedale Farms, the owner of a Colonial to the south wants to re-roof a garage; the Commissioners commented they should replace the roof with like materials; Town Staff will obtain more information.
The Newsletter writeup and photos regarding the flood are being drafted.
V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES of April 4, 2013
Commissioner Lubetkin moved to consider the minutes. Commissioner Laschever seconded the motion.
On Line 10, the spelling of "Mark Lubetkin" is corrected to "Marc Lubetkin".
On Line 170, the spelling of "Oracle" is corrected to "Orkil".
Chairman Feder made a motion to accept the minutes as amended. Commissioner Lubetkin seconded the motion, and it was approved unanimously.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Laschever made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:07 p.m. Chairman Feder seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.
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