The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Historical Society reveals home’s restored bedroom
TORRINGTON — In 2018, the Torrington Historical Society didn’t hold its usual December tours at the HotchkissFyler House, but this year the home will again be open for those holiday tours as the house’s namesake’s bedroom has been restored.
On Thursday, members of the historical society, its board of directors, staff and guests were given a first look at the restored bedroom and bath, which is located at the top of the grand staircase on the second floor. The event also gave visitors a chance to see the rest of the house: its kitchen, living and dining areas and sunroom on the first floor, and additional bedrooms on the second floor that contain historically accurate furnishings and antique accessories from the 1950s. It is named for a former resident, the now late Gertrude HotchkissFyler.
Historical Society Executive Director Mark McEachern said that the restoration of “the Hotchkiss Bedroom,” was made possible by donors, grants and the many artisans who brought their expertise to the project. The society also received a Good to Great grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development. The Good to Grant program provides funding for capital projects for several small to mediumsized arts and cultural organizations that connect art, history, and tourism.
“We have art, history and tourists, so we naturally qualified,” McEachern said, addressing about 50 guests from the grand staircase on the main floor of the house. “The purpose of the Good to Great grants is to improve the visitor experience at participating venues and to help the grantee organizations improve, from ‘good to great.’”
John Janco, society board president and president of Torrington Savings Bank, remembered the society’s plans to bring the house to the community more than a decade earlier. “We’ve recognized this amazing property, and today we’re celebrating a milestone with the restoration of this room,” he said.
The Torrington Historical Society was incorporated in 1944. John H. Thompson, editor of the then Torrington Register, was its first president. Thompson used his daily newspaper article to solicit gifts for the collection and to write about Torrington’s history. His “read it or not column” was published from 1936 until his death in 1949. The collections of the society were first stored and displayed in two rooms at Dr. Pratt’s House on Daycoeton Place. The society quickly outgrew its first home and moved to the Batters Building on Church Street. The HotchkissFyler House became its new home in the 1970s.
The restoration project, McEachern said, was intended to “correct a glaring inconsistency in the HotchkissFyler House Museum and vastly improve the visitor experience.” He noted that the before the restoration, the bedroom was incorrectly painted and furnished, and needed the expertise of many artisans to bring it back to 1956, when HotchkissFyler still lived there.
“Today, this house museum remains largely furnished and decorated as it was when Mrs. Hotchkiss passed away in 1956, and we believe that today it’s not only a Torrington treasure but also a Connecticut treasure,” McEachern said. “The home’s craftsmanship and state of preservation provides a window into life during the first half of the 20th century, before the age of computers and cellphones. The house is thor
oughly enjoyed by visitors who come here from near and far.”
After her death, caretakers of the house discovered that Hotchkiss provided no restrictions on how her home should be used as a museum, and didn’t require the society to keep her furniture and other belongings. But many of those pieces were saved, and many are included in the house today.
“The Board of Directors, during those early years, made many of the right decisions that led to the preservation of the home’s décor, largely as it was in 1956,” McEachern said. “Today we have a policy that directs us to maintain the home as it was in 1956. That policy guided our restoration of the Hotchkiss Bedroom.”
The bedroom’s restoration has been the most expensive project the society has ever done, McEachern said. The cost of the restoration amounted to $101,000, with 75 percent grant money, and 25 percent matching donations.
“It would not have occurred without the Good to Great grant program,” he said. Donors included Ray and Carole Neag, Torrington Savings Bank and its president, John Janco, Litchfield Bancorp, the First National Bank of Litchfield, now Union Savings Bank, Rick Judd, executive vice president of Union Savings and CL&P, which is now Eversource.
“The fact that several donor companies have changed names gives you some idea how long we have been at this project,” McEachern said.
Other donations included a bequest from Maureen Shugrue in memory of Joseph E. Cravanzola, a former president of the Torrington Historical Society and a longtime resident and business owner; a supporting grant for the NW CT Community Foundation; a donation from Beth El Synagogue; the Temkin Family Fund in honor of Beth El Synagogue; and
Dave and Esther Bennett. Many family members of these donors attended Thursday’s event.
Cravanzola’s daughter, JoAnn Kruppa, remembers visiting the house as a child.
“My father came to visit Mrs. Hotchkiss every week, and sometimes I was invited to come along,” she said. “I had to sit very quietly ...sometimes the housekeeper had a cookie for me. I remember sitting here in the living room with her and my dad.”
McEachern thanked Todd Levine of the CT DECD Office of Historic Preservation for his help with the project’s requirements, including the restoration of the handpainted murals in the bedroom and bathroom, which were covered with several coats of latex paint. Today, the murals, which are white and pastel colors, depict flowers in the bedroom and a collection of birds in the bathroom, winding around the four walls above the tub, commode and sink. The result of the restoration impressed the touring guests, including Joyce Peck and Sally Bergad, members of the society.
Other acknowledgments were made to Jane Montaneo, the former director of Preservation Connecticut (formerly known as the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation); and artists and suppliers, including design consultant Susan BishopWrabel, owner of Susan Bishop Interiors, formerly of Washington. “We relied heavily on Susan for fabric and carpet selection and color choices,” McEachern said.
McEachern also thanked
John Lippert and Dawn D’Aluisio, owners of Foreground Conservation and Decorative Arts of Chatham, NY; seamstress and designer Arla Trusiewicz, owner of Arla’s Design Workroom in Germantown, NY; Laura McCoy Designs of Claremont, N.H., for wallpaper designs; William Pietraface Contracting of Torrington, for his interior painting and wallpaper installation; upholstery by Robert Rizzo’s Acton Upholstery of Torrington; Illona Schaffernocker for her help with lampshade restoration; Samuel & Sons Passementerie for their draperies and fringe; and others including Lee Jofa, Kravet, Cowtan and Tout, and Stark Carpet.
McEachern noted that Rizzo took an exceptional interest in the restoration work of two armchairs, a chaise lounge, a bench seat and a window seat. “Bob’s a Renaissance man,” he said. “Amazingly, every time he took a piece of furniture to work on it he returned it completed a few days later. Pretty amazing in this day and age.”
“These artists and suppliers can give an idea of the complexity of the project, which was managed capably and successfully by Gail Kruppa,” McEachern said.
The HotchkissFyler House is at 192 Main St. Along with the HotchkissFyler House, the society offers ongoing exhibits about the history of Torrington in the adjacent Carriage House. For full details on tours or any information on the society, visit https://www.torrington historicalsociety.org or call 8604828260.