Norwalk, Connecticut

 

Historic SoNo

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Quotes:

 

The Boston Globe

Saucy SoNo 

A CONNECTICUT VILLAGE ONCE OVERLOOKED IS NOW EMBRACED

"SOUTH NORWALK, Conn. Today, the South Norwalk Historic District goes by the hip moniker "SoNo." And Storch a veteran of Olives in Charlestown as well as other Todd English ventures in Westport and in Aspen, Colo. is executive chef at Match, one of the hottest restaurants in a sizzling six-block dining and night-life district. In some ways SoNo (a sliver of the 27-square-mile Manhattan bedroom city of Norwalk) resembles many former industrial communities in New England. Brick Beaux-Arts warehouse and factory buildings line narrow Colonial-era streets but that solid backbeat is just the foundation for a different kind of jazz that plays out on SoNo's side walks. The neighborhood seems to sway to a Latin rhythm, a cultural overlay we first noticed one morning as Town and Country mothers with baby strollers practiced their salsa steps to the background music in the lobby of the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium."

Author(s):    Patricia Harris and David Lyon Globe Correspondents Date: January 4, 2004 Page: M11 Section: Travel



                 New York Times

In the Region/Connecticut; Varied Housing Enclave in Historic Area in Norwalk

"Mr. Brown, general partner of RBA Properties, a Norwalk-based real estate development and rental company, paid $1 million to acquire the 1.2-acre property and buildings that now make up Haviland Gates. The parcel had previously been approved as a 26-unit condominium development called Victoria Gardens, but the developer went bankrupt, Mr. Brown said, and he bought it in receivership from the F.D.I.C. two years ago.

''We didn't like the design,'' he said, ''and in carrying out the redesign of the entire project by Ray Sullivan, we bought the old house on the property and a house on Elizabeth Street that we dismantled rather than demolish, for future use elsewhere.'' His company paid $15,000 of the $75,000 cost to the city for moving the Wolfe house to its new site. The estimated cost of the entire project is around $7.5 million.

Timothy T. Sheehan, executive director of the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, calls Haviland Gates ''a quality development, improving the neighborhood and just what we're looking for -- appropriate integration of the new and the historic.''

Michael Greene, Norwalk's planning and zoning director, said: ''From the city's point of view, Keith is creating more housing where people can walk to shopping, restaurants, movie theaters, the Maritime Aquarium and the waterfront, and the train station. It's important that people feel comfortable walking to and from the station.''

Two of the most ardent supporters in promoting the relocation of the house were Todd Bryant, president of the Norwalk Preservation Trust, and Dale Mayer, granddaughter of Dr. Wolfe. ''He died in 1939,'' Ms. Mayer said, ''and my grandmother had to sell the house in spite of trying to make ends meet by opening a tearoom in the living room.'' Dr. Wolfe is still remembered as doctor to the poor and underprivileged, from whom he received chickens and other homely gifts in kind for his services.

Keith Brown's partners are his father, R. Donald Brown, and his brother-in-law, Jay M. Condon -- all dedicated to coaxing every last piece of molding, railing, decorative carving, bannister and newel post in the old houses back to life, inside and out. Their subsidiary, Condon Brown Builders, is erecting the new town houses. To keep the new construction compatible, all exteriors are wood siding -- an innovation in the age of vinyl.

By ELEANOR CHARLES
Published: May 23, 2004, Sunday 
Late Edition - Final , Section 11 , Column 1 , Page 7 "






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