By Emily Laux
Contributing Editor
WestportNow.com
WestportNow today launches a new feature as a counter to our popular “Teardown of the Day” series “Westport Revival.”
140 Compo Road South: marketed as a teardown in 1998. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Emily Laux for WestportNow.com
This occasional photo and text feature will highlight a Westport property that has been ֓revived rather than torn down. Although the series is not intended to focus only on historic homes, this first one is about a home that may well be among WestportԒs oldest.
Property Details: 140 Compo Road South. Owners Damon and Alanna Conte live here with their two small children. They believe the house was one of the few on Compo Road South not burned by the British.
While the age of the house has not been confirmed, Damone Conte believes it was built around 1760. The town’s field card says 1820, although there is much physical evidence that it is older. A neighbor claims to have a map that dates the house prior to 1700.
A 1999 view: the renovation took five years. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photoThe Contes purchased it in May 1998 and received a certificate of occupancy in May 2003. The 2,200-square foot house, which sits on a half acre, has been restored and renovated with a net 50-square feet added to the structure.
There is also a 1,000-square foot barn that serves as garage and museum for many of the relics discovered on the property.
Q&A:
WN: Do you believe you savedӔ your house from being torn down?
DC: Yes, it was definitely being marketed as a teardown in 1998. The owner had been inundated with calls from builders to knock it down. I saw it almost by accident—my wife and I were bidding on a property in Fairfield—but the moment I pulled in the driveway, I knew it would work out.
Damon Conte: “It would have been sinful to throw all this in a dumpster.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Emily Laux for WestportNow.com
WN: Why didnԒt you tear down the house?
DC: It would have been sinful to throw all this in a dumpster.
WN: Have there been financial benefits to restoring rather than tearing down?
DC: In my case, because Im builder who specializes in restoration, the answer is definitely yes.
WN: Have there been non-financial benefits to restoring rather than building new?
DC: ThereҒs no question that restoration is a longer and tougher road to travel, but the rewards are far superior. This started out as just a project,Ӕ but in the first two months of working on the house, we had dozens of people who stopped by to thank us for not knocking it down. Nobody stops by new construction to say, Thanks for building this new house. ӓ
WN: Final question: do you have a ghost?
DC: Absolutely! Lots of them, theyre here and theyҒre very happy and healthy!
Hooray for Damon and Alanna Conte! And thanks to Westport Now for their good sense in adding the
“Westport Revival” feature. It provides a positive balance
for the very depressing “Tear Down of the Day”.
Kudos to you Gordon for adding the “revival” feature! When I get to visit Westport again I’ll be able to see what the old houses used to look like.
Will you be adding the “revival” feature to maps as well?
It’s nice to know there are still Westporters who are interested in preserving Westport as it once was!
John Mingay, SHS’66
Thank you for starting this feature. As I said to WestportNow last week, I hope that people will start to look at existing homes with an eye to restore or renovate instead of demolishing it. I will eagerly watch for more saved homes!!!
BRAVO EMILY…BRILLIANT AS USUAL….CANT WAIT TO SAVOR EACH ONE.
Congratulations Emily for a wonderful start to “Today’s Revival” column. Thank you for expressing an appreciation for the beauty Westport has to offer. I hope your feature motivates others to think twice before tearing down the “good bones” of Westport.
Yay, this made my day to see a loving family in a lovely renovation that was supposed to be a “tear-down”. The hope of a Westport that remains a hometown with a variety of ages, styles, sizes in its houses is something to celebrate! Bravo!
The website was just down, so I hope I’m not repeating myself!
Yay, this new feature made my day. It is so wonderful to see a loving family in a lovely renovated home on South Compo, and I salute the Contes for what they did.
Here’s the HOPE for our hometown of Westport: that it will remain a town of a variety of sizes, styles and prices in its homes. Then the neighborhoods will remain a bit like I remember as a child. There is room for a variety.
This made my day. Once destroyed, charm and history can never be replaced. I fervently hope that Westport/Weston does not become an “anywhere USA” subdivision of generic, monster homes, with the resulting destruction of diversity and vitality. This is New England, historically a place of restraint (even among the wealthy) and community involvement…not ostentation.
Jerry, I have to respectfully disagree with you. While we are located in a New England state, Fairfield County is now much more aligned with NYC. Except for the recent increase in BoSox apparel, all of our culture and attitudes arrive on the MetroNorth.
I was so pleased to see this feature and hope you’ll continue it in order to help foster a sense of respect for and interest in the saving/restoring of old homes in our area. I’m putting Mr. Conte’s name into my files. He’ll be the first builder I call when I’m ready to begin renovations on my own old home. It’s so refreshing to hear about a builder who appears NOT to be among the vultures swooping in to tear down history and replace it with a more profitable and charmless McMansion clone. I’m a thirty year resident of Westport and feel heartsick every week as I see the next old, (or smaller home) flatten beneath a bulldozer’s greed. Hurray to Mr. Conte and his family who, like me, appreciate vintage homes and will work hard, and spend more, to perserve them.