New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Sustainable home in Bethany
Built with respect for nature, this house is a quiet meditative space to come home to at the end of the day. In 2006, after a six-year search, seller Nelly Rabinowitz connected with the woods on the parcel and chose it to build her home. “As I walked through the woods on that piece of land, I just could feel some kind of history,” she said. “There just was a spirit.”
The “serene and tranquil” property sits on one of the most beautiful parcels in Bethany and has direct access to trails for riding horses and hiking, Carol Cangiano, listing agent for Coldwell Banker Realty, said. Rabinowitz said she worked with award-winning architect Don Watson, of Trumbull-baseed EarthRise design, and BPC Green Builders in Wilton to create a home that is more than just energy efficient and sustainable but is also healthier for people with allergies.
The first house in the state to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] green certification, according to Rabinowitz, it incorporates passive and active solar energy, cross ventilation, makes use of renewable and non-toxic materials, and has no dead space.
Upon entry into the home the eye is immediately drawn to large windows overlooking the backyard. “You have a sense of the outside,” Rabinowitz said. “No matter where you look you see what is green. You see the snow in the winter; you see the fox crossing; you see the bear crossing; you see the rabbit; you hear the coyote at night.” The living room has a radiant heated bamboo floor and a fireplace with a tile surround, with a Moroccan touch.
The large dining room fits a large group and was the setting for countless family gatherings, including when Rabinowitz’s mother died and her seven siblings—each with five or six children—spent the weekend at the house, sleeping on mattresses spread throughout the home. “This house reminds me of tradition, this house reminds me of life cycles,” Rabinowitz said.
The heart of the home, the dining and living room space flows to the kitchen. Rabinowitz said she enjoyed having guests come in and out of the kitchen, checking out what she was cooking. In turn, she tuned in to what was going on in the other spaces. With a Viking gas stove, Rabinowitz was able to cook food defrosting in her freezer during power outages, preventing spoilage. During those times, she would bring meals to her neighbors, who were also dealing with life in the dark.
All the bedrooms have southern exposure with tremendous light coming through. The primary suite has a sitting area, walk-in closet, and a bathroom with a separate water closet. The top floor has a room used as a playroom and the lower level has a walkout and has been the living space for the family during summer and heatwaves. A root cellar in the basement was where Rabinowitz, an avid gardener, stored vegetables.
Over the garage is a separate wing with a private entry with a bedroom, bathroom, and sunroom. There is also a horse barn on the property with stalls for several horses and pastures for grazing. Rabinowitz said the family kept their horses on another property so, save for being used to distribute vegetables she grew in her gardens, it is a “virgin barn.”
There is an outdoor shower surrounded by roses that according to Cangiano “smells like heaven” and is in an orchard. Rabinowitz, who now lives out of state, said she most misses the tranquility of her home in Bethany. “I really, really honestly thought that this was the home where I was going to spend the rest of my life; unfortunately life didn’t ask me that,” she said.