UPDATE Only the shell remains of a 19th century house at 20 Woodside Ave. in Westport. A demolition permit for the property was issued Wednesday and this photo was shot on Saturday. Built in 1810, the 2,288-square-foot house was situated on a .6-acre lot. It was the WestportNow Teardown of the Day on Oct. 16, 2007. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
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26 thoughts on “All Gone: 20 Woodside Ave.”
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Very sad. If one looks back at the 45 comments made on WestportNow when this house first applied for a demolition permit a year ago, you will see how people pleaded with Robert and Julie Haroun (local attorneys and realtor) who own SIR Development to save this house. It didn’t work. Look at their website (http://sirdev.com/portfolio.html) and you’ll see what this 200-year-old house with so much character will now become. Someone predicted that they would never listen to people who love Westport’s charm. Sad.
“Someone predicted that they would never listen to people who love Westport
This property changed hands in May 08 and the new owners proceeded to demolish without a permit. It has been in this condition for several months. My understanding is that the new owners had wanted to preserve the original house but that its condition had deteriorated so badly that that was not possible.
Dear Ms. Smith and Mr. Wittle,
It is unfortunate that you jumped to the incorrect assumption that Julie and Robert Haroun and/or SIR Development are involved with this project. A quick check on www. westportct.gov confirms that we do not own this property as it is owned by 20 Woodside Avenue, LLC totally unrelated to us. For your information http://www.concord-sots.ct.gov identifies the Westport member of this LLC. Another call to the Building Department would have confirmed that the owner demolished the house without a demolition permit and in fact had a stop work order issued on July 8, 2008 . After the 45 comments that were made on westportnow and the personal letter from Michael Ronemus to us, we decided not to proceed with this project back in October 2007.
We would appreciate if you would provide us with a written apology.
Before anyone does any further finger pointing, I strongly suggest you do your homework and check your facts. It is easy to do so but perhaps much easier for you all to engage in this unfortunate behavior. Neither The Harouns nor SIR Development were the purchasers of 20 Woodside. I suggest you retract your comments and appologize accordingly. On the contrary, they heard all too loudly the previous public outcry. Your behaviour is sad and irresponsible, indeed. Your promotion of baseless accusations and musings serves to denegrate the integrity of Westport Now and casts a pall over otherwise informed and reflective citizens.
I agree that if we made a mistake, we should apologize, but the last information we had about the couple who were the “demolition permittees” in 2007 were Robert and Julie Haroun of SIR Development. That’s public record. Roz, I understand your sticking up for the Harouns but they WERE owners at that time.
Robert, I speak for many people to say thank you for hearing the public outcry in October 2007. But what I can’t figure out is why there was no record on WestportNow of the house being sold when you decided to sell to the current owners, and why there hasn’t been publicity about the new LLC proceeding without a permit (perhaps they thought that the permit you received would apply to them?) and tearing down the house illegally. Anyone else know any information?
Again, I apologize that I didn’t realize you had sold the house at 20 Woodside. If you read the 45 WestportNow comments and decided to sell, I wish you’d commented so that we could thank you.
The decision of Mr. Haroun of SIR Development to not to tear the house down is commendable. And if in fact the teardown was illegal, I trust that the people responsible will receive appropriate notoriety here on WestportNow, in the Minuteman, the Westport News and anywhere else. The town must take action to prevent such behavior.
Interestingly, my comment (and Mr. Haroun’s rebuttal) seem to have been lost in the diatribes. The house was purchased in May 08 by 20 Woodside Avenue LLC (see Westport No Property Transfers ) this was also mentioned by Mr. Haroun with a link to determine the new owner’s name.
The new owners proceeded to demolish without a permit. I understand a cease and desist was issued.
I’m curious why Dave Matlow is picturing this only now when the illegal demolition took place in the summer..
Good point Kitty. It’s Dave’s fault. I say put him in the stocks in the town green for a week or so.
Your information is again incorrect, we NEVER purchased 20 Woodside, we NEVER sold to the current owners as we were contract vendees for a few weeks in October 2007, and we NEVER received a Demolition Permit. Didn’t you read my last post where the current owners demolished the house without a demolition permit.
I just don’t know where you are getting your information. We are still waiting for your and Mr. Wittle’s apology.
Linda:
Just so we are clear, SIR was the “contract” purchaser – NEVER the owner. There is a significant difference. To determine the chain of title, you must look at the land records, not the building permits. They never ended up purchasing the property due to the public outcry.
I think it is important to be accurate.
Well, I apologize for inferring that SIR Dev had torn the subject house down; I should have checked that out since I DO have the ability to determine current ownership. That’s my bad and I should apologize. Good for SIR for not tearing THIS house down. (You have torn many others down in town, however, so let’s not bust out the halo just yet.) You might also notice that I defended SIR’s right to make decisions based on profit, no one has to run a business like a charity.
Since someone questioned whether I was serious, the suggestion to put Dave Matlow in stocks was a joke. Anyone who follows this site knows Dave and his photos are a driving force for preservation in Westport.
Thank you Jack, and with the 180 day demolition ordinance now in effect, we hope that other such historic homes may be renovated instead of torn down.
Thanks for the info, Roz, and I apologize for not understanding the difference between a contract purchaser and an owner. I’m a layperson so don’t know this. I was going by the information last October about the demolition permit.
I just would like some publicity for an LLC that did hear the wish of Westporters not to have this property torn down, and I am sorry that the new owner (I can’t open the link to find out who they are) acted illegally. Thanks to the Harouns for trying to help! I don’t have a problem with them building big houses, just when historic properties are torn down for the land beneath them.
Has anyone seen the beautiful 1860s antique farmhouse at 59 Roseville that is for sale? Beautiful inside, but it will require a new heating system and some other updating, I believe. I just hope that wonderful Dave Matlow will take a photo of it now and that no builder will try to demolish it. It would be a great home for a family to live in!
ok, now I have done the homework I should have done before posting (where I inferred that SIR Development was involved with the ownership or teardown of 20 Woodside, not true). SIR was not involved in this particular Westport teardown.
Title to 20 Woodside transferred via a deed dated May 7, 2008 and filed May 13, 2008 to 20 Woodside Avenue, L L C (you can see that in the Town Clerk’s 1-1-08 to 6-30-08 property transfer report, available on the Town of Westport website, Town Clerk section).
As Mr Haroun posted, the State of CT business entitiy search is easy to accomplish – the public records show that 20 Woodside Avenue L L C was formed on May 8th and is managed by June Getraer, with an address of 221 Greens Farms Road, Greens Farms, CT, 06838.
I make no comment about what the intentions of 20 Woodside Ave L L C may have been with the property; perhaps they set out with honorable intentions, I simply do not know. I am also not familar with the circumstances surrounding the “demolition without a permit” issue.
A brutal image. Well done, Dave Matlow.
Whomever is behind this tragedy, PLEASE, at least spare those magnificent beech trees out front. There is no call for cutting those down.
ONLY IN WESTPORT!!!
The manager of 20 Woodside Ave LLC is June Gatraer. Former Democrat member of Westport’s P & Z. Guess she does not know the rules or regulations.
Oh did I mention she was as all Democrat P and Z candidates she was endorsed by Save Westport Now when she ran for office.
Mr. Burns, I ask you to please leave politics out of this. Someone above stated that the house could not be salvaged and it is important to know the facts about that. Hopefully Ms. Gatraer will respond on this list. Most people agree with the desire to preserve historic buildings. But injecting politics can’t benefit the discussion.
WOAH !
Mike lets revisit the comment: SAVE WESTPORT NOW endorsed all Democrat P and Z Candidates,
You went through holy hell with your project which saved a historic property that was claimed to be non savable by critics, as was my property at various times
Anything is savable, it is a position that should be saluted by anyone endorsed by SAVE WESTPORT NOW or else we may be convinced there is a political agenda there
So which property was issued a demo permit on Wed Oct 22?
“Saveable” or not, you’d think a [former] member of the P&Z;would know not to demolish a historic building without a demo permit. Would love to hear her side of this story.
Thanks Dan, a guessing game……Absent any further information, here are my guesses:
Town Hall? The Inn at Longshore? Restoration Hardware? My house? Staples? The Y?
Hope I’m wrong on all of these. Do tell.
WOAH Chip.
(Hey, I sat with your son at the Staples game Saturday where the Wreckers played their hearts out against a great New Canaan team and Division 1 quality QB only to lose a heartbraker).
I know you and Mr. Burns love to wear your politics on your sleeves and it is great to be in a society where that is encouraged. (In fact, I think you are currently leading the contest of most political signs in one yard.) I was just saying that I don’t think the destruction of this house is a political issue. I believe that most people in Westport – Republican or Democrat – favor saving historic properties. If the owner demolished this house in violation of the law, that should be made known and appropriate action taken. We should hear that side of the story.
But the P & Z was supportive of our quest to salvage 113 Cross Highway. it was another town board that made our restoration more difficult. The members of that board said they were just performing their jobs, and I don’t doubt that they felt that way. Although we disagreed with their decisions, it never was a political issue. To me injecting politics into historic preservation causes dissent and hurts the cause.
By the way, we should be referring to the [now demolished] house at 20 Woodside as the Joseph Hyatt house, that’s how the Westport Historic Resources Inventory refers to it.
I am really curious how a former Westport P&Z;Commissioner, or anyone, can obtain a demo permit to demolish a listed historic home in October, 2008. Under the rules in place as of August, 2008, she would have to wait 6 months (180 days) to demolish a building that is over 50 years old (check out Sections 14-21 to 14-28 of the new Demolition Ordinace, linked on the Town of Westport web site, Building Department section) unless there was no opposition received from the organization registered with the Building Dept. to receive such notices (I think the HDC would be so registered).
I really don’t think we should let this slide . . . .