The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
City’s historic preservation trust to present awards
TORRINGTON >> The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust will present two historic preservation awards to local property owners at its annual meeting on Monday, May 15. The awards, which recognize achievement in the preservation of historic Torrington buildings, will be presented in two categories: residential and commercial. The public is invited to attend. The presentation begins at 6 p.m.
The 2017 Historic Preservation Award for a Torrington residence will be given to Raymond and Mary Ann Harrigan in recognition of their dedicated stewardship of their home at 216 Benham Street.
This elegant colonial revival house was built in 1925 for Carlton Fyler and his wife Jenny. The Harrigans bought the house from Mr. Fyler in 1986, shortly before his death.
Carlton Fyler, a World War I veteran, was a chauffeur and caretaker for the Travis family, who lived on Migeon Avenue in what is now the Phelan Funeral Home. Carlton’s wife, Jenny, was a governess for the Travis family, before becoming a teacher at the North School.
The house is a textbook example of colonial revival domestic architecture from the early 20th century. Exemplary features include a side gable roof of medium pitch with narrow eaves, six over six doublehung windows with correctly proportioned shutters, and a symmetrical façade accentuated by a pedimented portico with paired columns, sidelights, and a paneled door. The quality of construction, design, and detail, inside and out, is noteworthy.
Finding the house virtually unaltered from its original state when they moved in, the Harrigans have lovingly preserved and maintained the authentic period charm. Light fixtures, woodwork, radiators, doors, floors, hardware, fireplaces, and built-in cupboards—all intact. The most arduous preservation challenge taken on by these two intrepid homeowners, which Mary Ann and Raymond show off with well-earned pride, is the exterior. Clapboards, shutters, and windows are all original or impeccably restored.
From both outside and in, the 12-pane windows with their beguiling charm set all the other details off to perfection. Kudos to Raymond and Mary Ann Harrigan for keeping this old-house magic alive.
The 2017 Historic Preservation Award for a Torrington commercial structure will be given to Jon Jensen and James Meehan for the meticulous care they have taken in both preserving and improving the Batters Building at 187 Church Street in the heart of the old rail district.
The structure was built in 1897 for Michael Batters as a grocery, but by 1901 the first floor had become a saloon. In 1921 the Torrington Building Company turned the space into offices which they shared with prominent local architect William E. Hunt. In 1960 Burns, Brooks and McNeil Insurance and Real Estate Company moved in, followed, in turn, by the Register Citizen newspaper. Jensen and Meehan, as co-owners of Torrington Energy, acquired the space in 2014.
This is but a brief and incomplete synopsis of the many owners, tenants, and uses which make the Batters Building a significant embodiment of the city’s local history. The structure is important, too, as a rare survival of a completely intact 19th-century commercial façade and not just a typical trolley era storefront, but a finely wrought, flamboyant neoclassical design by Torrington architect C.D. Janssen.
Within a year of purchase, the two award recipients had procured a façade improvement grant from the City of Torrington with which they returned the exterior façade to its original elegance. Due attention was given to drainage and landscaping. Equal care went into preserving and enhancing interior features, with much of the hard physical work taken on by Jensen and Meehan themselves. With interior improvements still underway, the partners are taking the time to do things right. Their guiding motto all along has been that “this building deserves first class treatment.”
The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust is a nonprofit organization committed to the preservation of historically significant structures in the city of Torrington. The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust has been instrumental in establishing three National Register Historic Districts in Torrington and conducting a number of historic Resource Surveys of Torrington’s neighborhoods. Currently the Preservation Trust is working to restore Skee’s Diner and to encourage the preservation and reuse of Torrington’s historic industrial buildings. To learn more, visit www. preservetorrington.org.