The following article was compiled from information provided by Coldwell Banker in Wilton.
Kick up your heels–this stunning Frazier Peters-designed home, with a fun connection to the Rockettes and Radio City, has hit the Wilton real estate market for only the third time in the home’s history.
In 1925, Frazier Peters designed and built the original construction of this picturesque, fieldstone, Tudor Revival house on three acres of hilltop land with rugged rock outcroppings at 80 Chestnut Hill Rd.. It was built for Luther and Julia Brown, and three families have owned this house during these 85 years.
The home features a balcony room (often a trademark of Frazier Peters) overlooking the living room. The arched doorways from the front hall and dining room led to a 40-foot beamed, cathedral ceiling living room of grand proportions with a fireplace. When Frazier Peters visited this home during the sixties, he commented to a friend: “In all of the houses that I have designed, this is my finest living room.”
East of this great room was a sunroom with five arched windows and/or doors tiled with Welsh quarry tiles. Hope metal casement windows of various sizes and groupings were used throughout.
The Browns lived for 20 years in this Frazier Peters’ home, from 1925 to 1945. Mr. Brown was the developer of Chestnut Hill Properties, and he commissioned Frazier Peters to build six other stone homes in a nearby area that is now known as East Meadow and West Meadow Rds..
Richard Leibert bought the house from the Browns in 1945. Leibert was the famous organist for Radio City Music Hall from its opening in 1932 until his retirement and relocation to Coral Gables, Florida in 1971. His Radio City concerts were broadcast on NBC radio and he made numerous recordings. The living room of this home held a grand Steinway piano and an organ with full pipes. On summer days, with the windows open, neighbors enjoyed listening to him play music on them. There was often dancing on the terrace, when her father was playing.
Liberty’s second wife, Rosemarie Brun, was a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall before their marriage. She was president of the Wilton Garden Club from 1965-1966.
Some alterations to the house were made between 1945 and 1971, and the Leiberts lived in the house for 26 years.
The current owners, John and Donna Ferries, bought the home from the Leiberts in 1971. In 1972, the kitchen was renovated, adding French-tiled floors and Portuguese tiles for the walls. In 1975, the garage underneath the kitchen was converted to a playroom for the Ferries children (twin sons and a daughter). A detached two-car garage was built beyond the turnaround area and cantilevered to have storage space below. It too had a slate roof, in keeping with the other buildings.
John Ferries, an advertising executive, Donna and their three children moved to Brussels in 1980. They rented their home until they returned in 1988, and initiated major renovation on the house. The attic was converted to a dormered bedroom by placing a staircase through one of the bedrooms. A full bath was added to the “playroom.” All interior kitchen walls, the staircase that went through the center of the kitchen, and the small bedroom and bath were eliminated, making the entire room an enlarged, integrated kitchen/family room. A master bedroom/suite, with full bath, and cathedral ceiling was built on the north side of the house, with a cantilevered deck.
In 1997, a large sunroom with a fieldstone fireplace was built on the southwest corner of the house with access via a wide passageway through the kitchen/family room. The room was designed by Rob Sanders of Faesy & Sanders with great detail given to keeping with the Frazier Peters’ style. Iron windows and doors were ordered from England, and the hardware from Hopes in Pennsylvania. Every stone used in the construction was jack hammered from the ledge below. Retaining walls were designed to blend in with the original walls and terrace. Faesy & Sanders designed a portico at the front entrance, incorporating stone from the property and a matching slate roof.
Gardens – A cold frame, located on the south side of the pump house, was built when the house was constructed in 1925. Rosemarie Leibert planted a circular garden behind and below the rock ledge, with roses. However, as the trees continued to grow, she was forced to plant more shade-tolerant plants. The huge azaleas, which she planted to the left of the garden, created a nice background.
In the 70’s, the Ferries started to renovate and expand the gardens. They planted more shade-tolerant plants in the circular garden, over 70 varieties of lilies, and additional azaleas on the right side of the circle. In 1988, a perennial garden was completed next to the pump house. The undergrowth and many dying ash trees were removed on the north end of the property to create a wide grassy path and woodland gardens. Alpine plantings and several unique varieties of Japanese maples have been planted on the west ledge and throughout the rockery. In 1990, a dwarf conifer garden was created on the east side of the master bedroom and visible from the driveway. A wildflower garden was created near the perennial garden and a display of troughs with miniature shrubs and perennials was created off the terrace. In 1997, a kitchen-garden (potager) was created with geometric raised beds, outlined with Belgian blocks, and gravel paths. After years of losing many fine plantings to the growing deer population, it was necessary to install a deer fence around the property. With the protection from the deer, the Ferries expanded the woodland garden on each side of the steps below the terrace. In 2007, they removed two huge hemlocks, which gave space to create two additional gardens…a mixture of flowering and evergreen shrubs.
The Ferries home was featured on the Wilton Garden Club house tour in December 1976, on the Westport Historical Society house tour in December 2007, and in the July-August 2008 issue of Wilton Magazine.
The gardens have been featured in the July 1994 issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, in the April 2004 issue of Garden Design magazine, on the June 2006 Westport Historical Society garden tour, in the May-June 2007 issue of Wilton magazine, and on the June 2007 Garden Conservancy Open Days program.
John and Donna Ferries have been the third owners, and have enjoyed living in this lovely, distinctive Fraizer Peters’ home. However, they know it’s time for a fourth owner, hopefully people who love the unique character of the house and the diverse topography of the property as much as the three previous owners did.
