‘Architect’s eye’ spots a keeper
WESTPORT — When Leigh Overland first saw a colonial farmhouse on Roseville Road, he had no intention of buying it.
He had recently divorced his wife and was on the way to his temporary living situation when he stumbled upon the home by happenstance.
The open house sign caught his attention and he decided to take a look with his two daughters, just for fun.
But the three had second thoughts on their way back home and minutes into the drive, they decided to turn around and take a second harder look.
“I looked at it with an architect’s eye instead of a Sunday-let’s-take-a-look eye and realized how special the house was,” Overland said.
The 1883 home was intriguing to him, and he wondered about the nostalgic
stories that lay within it. The more he and his daughters inquired, the more exciting the house became.
“I called a Realtor and I said, ‘Buy the house,’” said Overland, who has been an award-winning residential and commercial architect for more than 35 years.
He was featured on ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover” in 2007, after producers selected him from a group of more than 100 different architects. On the show, he helped design, demolish and rebuild a Victorian home for a Bridgeport woman in need.
In 2012, he built a castle in New Canaan.
Overland said he has a knack for finding unique homes that have “potential” and has a passion for purchasing and renovating them. His Westport home at 173 Roseville Road is the third compound he’s moved into and transformed.
Since he purchased it in 2007, he’s doubled its size by adding a new kitchen, dining area, family room and master bathroom. The house now has walk-in closets, a three-car garage, multiple fireplaces and heated flooring.
“It was really an experimentation of architecture, and how do I make life as convenient and enjoyable as possible, in your own home where you spend 60 to 80 percent of your life,” he said.
Over the years, he’s kept to that vision, giving the traditional home a contemporary flare.
The lighting, heating, air and alarm systems are automated, meaning he can control his televisions, radios, and fireplaces from his cellphone or with the push of button from inside the house. To make the house more efficient, he installed energy efficient lighting and heating.
Last winter, his heating bill was just over $1,750, he said. For a 3,300-squarefoot home, a heating bill would generally cost about double the price, he added.
The home’s transformation didn’t start with Overland.
In 1929, well-known sculptor Berthold Nebel purchased the place and soon after, added a living room and a guest room. Nebel, famous for his portrait statues in front of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford and in the rotunda at the U.S. Capitol in D.C., had secured a new job with the National Museum of the American Indian and The National Geographic Society Museum in New York City and built a stone studio behind the house to create additional working space.
After Nebel died, the decision was made to split the property, selling the house — which Overland eventually bought — and keep the studio in the family. Nebel’s daughter Lucia Nebel White lived in the studio until her death last year at age 92. Her grandson and great-grandson live there now.
As close neighbors, White and Overland often spent time together, carving pumpkins or talking about her father’s artwork, which still fills the studio.
Overland said she told him tales about the maroon-colored chair that sits in his attic. White’s mother used to breastfeed in the chair and after her death, White was convinced it brought good luck — an idea Overland has bought into.
Overland met his current wife after moving into the home and, he said, his career has continued to take off since his decision to keep the chair.
“I’m kind of convinced this house is full of good luck,” he said.
Still, Overland is ready to move on, having purchased a new place in Fairfield.
“This house is so special, I want it to go to another special family,” Overland said about 173 Roseville Road .
The 5-bedroom home, which sits on about 1 acre, is on the market for $1.5 million, real estate agent Wini Mola said, adding that it is actually worth much more.
“Leigh took a very simple home, and with his talent,” said Mola, of Wini Mola Realtors, “he created this magnificent home filled with charm and beauty.”