Old carriage house in Greenwich destined for wrecking ball

Greenwich — Karl Davis likes to drive by his old childhood home on Meadow Drive whenever he returns to Greenwich, to replay some fond memories of the old carriage house where he was raised as a youngster.

Fond memories may be all he has left of his boyhood home, as the 1904 carriage house (later converted into a residence and then a garage) is slated for demolition.

Davis, 61, a lawyer who now lives in Unionville, was hoping to raise some interest in preserving the old structure, perhaps in re-locating it. But preservationists note that buildings like the one at 19 Meadow Drive, which are old and quaint but not especially exceptional, are particularly hard to save.

“I think it has some historical significance. It would be nice to save a piece of history, of time gone past. It represents another period of history,” said Davis. “Wouldn’t it be nice if it could be dismantled and put somewhere else?”

Davis, the son of a state probation officer, recalled some of the old equestrian features of the building when he was a boy living there, including hooks and other equipment for storing tack.

The house is in the Rock Ridge residential development, off Lake Avenue not far from Greenwich Hospital.

The main building at the site has been torn down, and Davis said he hoped that if the carriage house is saved, that a small remnant of Greenwich’s agricultural and equestrian tradition could be preserved.

Developer Jim Hoffman, who is affiliated with Sound Beach Partners, said the property was being re-sold by his firm, and the site would change hands July 20. The carriage house is unlikely to survive, he wrote in an e-mail, due in large part to town building codes.

“I do know that the new owners intend to demolish the carriage house, as well. The problem with the carriage house is that it’s quite large and it eats up a lot of the FAR (buildable space) on the property,” according to Hoffman.

Structures that aren’t particularly historical or abundant in architectural interest are especially hard to save, said Jo Conboy, chairwoman of the Greenwich Preservation Trust.

“It’s a big challenge, a very big challenge,” she said.

If a building is not on the National Register of Historical Places, or its local equivalent, it makes it especially vulnerable. Charming and oldtimey aren’t enough, she said.

As for relocation, it’s a big hurdle. “If you wanted to move it, you’d have to get all the approvals. It’s at least $50,000 to move something, and they don’t give you a quote until you’re ready to move it,” Conboy said.

Another approach for preservationists, she said, is to find new uses for older out-buildings.

“Using it on the property for something else, adaptive re-use, we try to talk to owners about that,” said Conboy.

Old buildings often need vocal support from the community or neighbors to survive the relentless demand for new real-estate opportunities in Greenwich.

“Sometimes you can get the neighbors involved, and then maybe you have a chance,” she said.

Ultimately, the preservationist leader said, the solution is to create incentives for developers and property-owners to keep older buildings intact, through rewards in the zoning process. She said fruitful discussions were being held with town leaders that would create incentives to keep old carriage houses and historic homes from demolition.

Changes in the “floor-area-ratio” that determine allowable building sizes, and modifications to other sections of the building code, could create incentives for older structures to be preserved instead of making them financial losses to maintain, Conboy said.