By Bob Weingarten
Freddie and Russell Brenneman are honoring Westport’s heritage by displaying a Westport Historical Society plaque identifying their 320 Bayberry Lane home as the Guyer-Thorpe House, which was built in circa 1819.
The house was build in 1819 and occupied by the Brennemans since 1988. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Bob Weingarten for WestportNow.com
Peter Guyer built this house in 1819 and then his daughter Salome Guyer inherited the house 1857. Salome Guyer married James Thorpe and owned the house until her death in 1936.
The Salome Guyer estate sold the property to Charles and Charme Speaks in 1939 who also moved a 1790 barn condemned in Weston to build the Saugatuck Reservoir on to their property.
Russell Brenneman inherited the property from his aunt, Charme Speaks, in 1988.
The Brennemans are not new to living in a historic home. Their first home in Connecticut was a 1790 farmhouse in Goshen and then they lived in Essex and Glastonbury.
In 1995, their daughter Amy called and said. “I want to get married—in Aunt Charme’s garden.” That was what they were waiting for so they sold their house in Glastonbury and moved into Aunt Charme’s house in Westport.
By moving into “The Pink House,” the Brennemans continue the tradition of being part of the second family to have lived in this house in 190 years.
When asked why “The Pink House,” the Brennemans’ said that it was rumored that in the old days when homeowners wanted to extend the white paint they were using on their house they would mix in the left over red from their barns – thus creating “pink.”
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Editor’s note: Bob Wingarten has been in charge of the Westport Historical Society’s plaque program for five years. Since 1978 when the program started, 208 historical plaques have been installed on Westport homes.
Congratulations to the Brennermans for keeping this house looking so wonderful for many townsfolk to enjoy when driving by! 208 historical plaques on Westport houses—what a gift to the town.
And I know this house is so lovingly kept up inside too. This is part of our history (and I remember well hearing about Charme Speaks when I was growing up in Westport in the 1950s!).