WestportNow Teardown of the Day: 158 Compo Rd. S.

3 thoughts on “WestportNow Teardown of the Day: 158 Compo Rd. S.”

1. Can’t somebody save this beautiful old house? It seems that every day they’re pulling apart more of Westport’s heart.

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2. heartbreaking.

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3. Tess, I agree that it would be great if this house could be saved: you should try to buy it.  Or maybe you could donate money to the current owner in exchange for their agreeing to renovate the house. 

   I also think the “they” you refer to should include the former long-time owners of these properties. Not sure if this is the case here, but too many homeowners let their houses get run down too far.  It’s tough to tell people what to do with their property and money though, but I think the same principal should be applied to developers, etc. 

   Maybe people who don’t want these kinds of houses torn down should be more proactive and help some of these long-time owners to maintain their properties in exchange for agreeing to list the houses as a historical property.  It might work: certainly more than just complaining on a message board,.

   Another idea might be to convince the town to let houses like this subdivide the property in exchange for registering the house as a historical property.  You’d probably have to make the subdivision contingent on the Historic Commission’s signing off with the appropriate restoration of the house or the sale of the house to someone who will renovate. That might help the economics of the situation. 

   I don’t mean to pick on you, Tess.  You’re probably a great person, who might actually be very involved in saving old homes here in Westport.  My point is that I hear a lot of people complaining about tear downs and asking others to pay the extensive costs to save these places; but they seem to do little more than just that. If you really care about something, try to figure out a way to really help.  Organize all your other fellow preservationists, hold fundraisers, organize people to volunteer to paint, etc. 

   I’m not really that concerned about saving old houses myself. I actually like the new homes being built around here, and I’m happy to see things like homebuilding stimulate the economy. 

   I’d rather people save old cars, but that’s just me; and I won’t judge you for getting new one every 3, 5, 10, 20, or 30 years.

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