Changes will be made to the 18th Century home at 105 Seeley Road, Historic District and Historic Property Commission Chair Kevin Quinlan told The Bulletin.
“While the 'newer' addition to the right portion of the main house is going to be dismantled and replaced with an attractive [and] appropriate addition,” Quinlan said, “the owner is preserving the old portion of the home — the main portion.”
Quinlan said “the original house's main volume, original entry facade and door, interiors and fireplaces” will be preserved and the owner is also “looking to enhance the original timber framing posts and ceiling joists.”
The Seeley Road property, which was discussed during the Historic District and Historic Property Commission’s Nov. 10 meeting, was built around 1759 and is listed on the 1989 Wilton Architectural Survey.
According to VisionAppraisal.com, the 12-room antique-style home has wood shingle siding and a gable/hip asphalt shingle roof with plastered interior walls and hardwood floors. The home has four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms and five fireplaces.
Late sculptor Gifford Proctor, who created the Valley Forge Washington statue, worked out of a studio in the Seeley Road home, which once belonged to Sylvia Keiser.
Quinlan said the current owner of the property is an “enlightened” owner who is also a member of the Wilton Historical Society board of trustees and an alternate member of the Historic District and Historic Property Commission.
“We commissioners visited and toured this property and house, as we always do for historic homes of interest,” said Quinlan.
“Our quorum of commissioners voted unanimously to not delay the demolition of the rather nondescript newer wing because the owner is preserving the heart of the home, which is the older part of the home.”