The home at 16 Minute Man Hill won’t be demolished if it can be sold before Jan. 12 under an agreement announced today. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com file photo by Dave Matlow
By Jennifer Connic
As part of a settlement announced today in Stamford Superior Court, the contract owners of the house designed by modernist architect Paul Rudolph at Westport’s 16 Minute Man Hill have agreed to negotiate with a potential buyer for one week.
Westport developer David Waldman and his wife Yvette will work through Jan. 12 to negotiate in good faith with an unnamed potential buyer. If they cannot reach an agreement by then, they will demolish the house.
The Waldmans have signed an agreement with Dr. Louis Micheels to buy the house for $3.2 million and have already paid a $500,000 deposit.
The Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, which was asking for an injunction on demolition until after the home could be formally nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, agreed that it will not do anything to prevent the Waldmans from demolishing the house.
Stamford Superior Court Judge Taggert D. Adams, who presided over the case, said in court there was a high degree of cooperation and understanding shown by both sides.
“It’s not the easiest of decisions,” he said. “This has the real possibility to be a good situation. You’ve gone a long way to meet the concerns of each other.”
Waldman said he was pleased with the resolution and looks forward to the negotiations with the potential buyer.
“We are happy to have a fair negotiation,” he said. “We try to be reasonable, which is why we elected to resolve this.”
Helen Higgins, Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation executive director, said she feels good about the settlement because there is a real opportunity to save the home.
“There is a buyer who is interested in preserving the house,” she said. “This is an opportunity to save a great piece of architecture in Westport.”
The house is the only private residence in Connecticut designed by Rudolph, she said, and Rudolph-designed homes are undergoing a renaissance.
Neither Higgins nor Waldman identified the potential buyer, but Higgins said he approached the trust about purchasing the property.
Waldman said he believes the person at one time lived in the home in New York City in which Rudolph once lived.
His family has not put their Weston home on the market, Waldman said, and if they sell the Minute Man Hill house they will decide how to proceed at that time.
