The Jackson-Nealy House at 211 Hurlbutt Street has joined the Asa Olmstead House at 105 Old Belden Hill Road on the Historic District & Historic Property Commission’s list of demolition delays.
The commission placed a 90-day delay on the late 18th Century home on Hurlbutt Street after its owners submitted a demolition request last month, Chair Kevin Quinlan told The Bulletin.
The late 18th Century five-room home sits on 2.68 acres of land and contains three bedrooms, one bathroom, three fireplaces and an open porch, according to Vision Appraisal.
In 2013, the property’s land value was assessed at $327,040 and appraised at $467,200, according to Vision Appraisal, and the property received a total appraisal value of $512,700 and a total assessed value of $358,890 that year.
The property is one of the historic Wilton homes listed in the 1989 Wilton Architectural Survey, written by architectural historian Mary E. McCahon.
According to the survey, the home is set into a hill on a fieldstone foundation that not only “permits a walkout ground level on the front elevation,” but also “contributes to the historic character” of Hurlbutt Street.
History
The house’s historic name is the Andrew Jackson House — named after the first selectman of Wilton in 1883 and 1884, Andrew Jackson, whose family built the 211 Hurlbutt Street home, according to the survey.
“The house has been owned by members of the Jackson [and] Knapp [families], and an Olmstead, who may have bought or rented the house at one time,” said Wilton Library History Room archivist and collection coordinator Scotty Taylor.
According to the 1989 survey, an 1855 map of Wilton shows 211 Hurlbutt Street as the residence of a Mrs. Jackson.
According to Taylor, Andrew Jackson’s son Elmer, also a former first selectman, owned the home from 1897 until 1900.
After passing out of the Jackson family, the home was “refreshed in the Colonial Revival style,” according to the survey, “so most of its exterior fabric is 20th Century.”
In December 1966, a Julie Anderson owned 211 Hurlbutt Street, according to Vision Appraisal, and in 2011, the property was sold to Jeffrey and Andrea Bates for $445,000.
Future
Once the delay expires on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Quinlan said the Bateses “intend to demolish the existing antique house and build a new house higher on the property’s hill.”
The commission imposed the 90-day demolition delay in hopes of preserving parts of the home.
According to the 1989 survey, the home has a four-bay frame, one-and-a-half-story cape with a central chimney and large six-over-six windows on the first level of the facade and side elevations.
“We have identified parties who wish to take some of the wide-plank flooring, the antique windows, the door hardware, and we may have an interested party who may take the existing timber frame at the original part of the house,” said Quinlan.
“The 90-day delay is proving to be the means by which materials of historical significance can be preserved and reused at other properties in town, and in that small way, the history lives on — at least somewhat.”