Key Points
- A $55,000 preservation grant would require Wilton to retain the Yellow House’s historic windows.
- Town officials question how restored windows would serve the planned caretaker residence.
- The historic commission chair supports accepting the grant, while selectmen seek more flexibility.
Why It Matters: The decision will shape how Wilton balances historic preservation, public spending and the needs of the Yellow House’s future residents.
With an eye toward long-term savings, sustainability and the comfort of the future inhabitants, the Board of Selectmen appears to be leaning toward foregoing a $55,000 state historic preservation grant for the Ambler Farm Yellow House over a requirement to retain and repair the town to keep the building’s original windows after its restoration.
Interim Director of the Department of Public Works Jeff Pardo went before the BOS on Monday, Oct. 19, to argue, that replacement windows would offer better functionality and energy efficiency for the planned caretaker residence. But Lori Fusco, chair of the Historic District and Historic Property Commission, urged selectmen to accept the grant and preserve the historic windows.
The $55,000 lead abatement matching grant comes with some strings attached — in particular the requirement that the town would have to keep the old window intact and merely repair them.
First Selectman Toni Boucher said that the grant requires a two-to-one town match, meaning Wilton would have to contribute $110,000 toward receiving the state funding. She has asked Pardo to go back to the SHPO and see if there was any more flexibility in the window works and then return to the BOS in the future with more information.
No final decision was made. Boucher asked Pardo to return to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to determine whether it would offer more flexibility on the windows and report back to the board.
Pardo was not in favor of keeping the original windows.
“The windows are 200-years old … They don’t function well,” he said. “If you restore them, they’re still not going to function great. They’re certainly not going to function the way a new window would.”
Pardo also raised concerns about the energy efficiency of the single-pane windows, and said that even with storm windows, they would still be somewhat impractical.
“This is not about cost and speed,” Pardo said. “This is about functionality and efficiency. And in my opinion, if I were going to live in this house, I would want new windows. I wouldn’t want historic windows.”
The town plans to renovate the Yellow House and make it livable for a caretaker and their family on the Ambler Farm property. In May, at Wilton’s Annual Town Meeting, voters approved the appropriation of $1,367,749 for the renovation by more than a two-to-one margin. The renovated house is expected to generate revenue to help repay the borrowing.
In January, Pardo raised concerns about the SHPO grant with the Wilton Capital Planning Committee, which at the time was considering whether to recommend bonding the renovation work to the BOS. The town had already deferred accepting the grant some time.
Along with the requirement to retain the original windows, Pardo said then that there were several other restrictions associated with the grant, including giving SHPO blanket approval authority over aspects of work on any historic structures on the property for 15 years, as well as ongoing approval of any additional work on the Yellow House.
He described other restrictions, including on lead remediation, including requirements to strip paint rather than replace boards and interior molding, as well as a provision permitting visitors to walk closely around the building and examine it — something he said could be disconcerting for anyone living there.
At the Oct. 19 meeting, Second Selectman Ross Tartell said subsequent discussions with Pardo indicated SHPO had offered more latitude than initially understood on requirements other than the windows.
Pardo agreed.
“They were okay with the interior renovation,” Pardo said. “That’s right. They were okay with the small modifications we were going to make to the outside of the building. They felt they could live with all that as long as the windows remain.”
Pardo told the BOS that replacement windows would look “very close” to the current antique ones.
“There will be a slight difference, but they’ll be efficient,” he said. “They’ll function properly.”
In opposition, Fusco wrote the BOS members a letter of public comment last week, encouraging them to accept the grant and keeping the original windows, emphasizing that their longevity demonstrated their quality.
“Accepting grant funding designated for historic preservation is both an appropriate use of public resources and a fiscally responsible decision,” she wrote.
“By leveraging State funding for its intended purpose, the town can address lead paint remediation while taking a thoughtful, long-term approach to rehabilitation,” she continued. “We have an opportunity to move beyond short-term fixes and embrace an approach that values quality, durability, and the preservation of historic resources for future generations.”
Boucher said work she had seen elsewhere showed that replacement windows could replicate the historic appearance of original windows while also offering modern efficiency.
“It’s not a museum,” she said.
“This is a place for people to occupy, to live in … so for me it’s more it’s usefulness, it’s practicality,” Boucher said.
