A New Office With Historic Touch To Open On Church Hill

By Kendra Bobowick

Once rundown, the property on the corner of Church Hill Road and The Boulevard has flourished with developer Raffie Aryeh’s touch. Currently occupied by Prudential Realty, the old house on the corner now has a companion: a new “barn” complete with a cupola, weathervane, cedar siding, and the delicate splash of artist David Merrill’s brush strokes to welcome guests to the ready-to-lease office space.

The new construction is the latest in a story that started a decade ago, when the real estate businessman made a bold purchase.

Mr Aryeh immediately started making repairs to the old house and uncovering its paint-caked and rust-worn details. “I had always wanted to make it look like it should — it’s 200 years old and has a lot of beautiful features,” he said. With Prudential taking up space in the refinished old house, he turned an eye to the rest of the property where he envisioned another building.

He wanted his new, two-story, 6,500-square-foot office building to look like a barn for good reason.

“About 100 years back, there was a barn on site,” he said, although the former structure was not located where the new building stands today. Feature by feature, the barn-inspired building will eventually have plush landscaping to dress up the lot, catching the eye until guests reach the front door where another detail takes the attention. Artist David Merrill’s delicate images fill the floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the front doors leading into the lobby. On the front and back of both windows are representations of the flagpole at the top of Church Hill Road — one for each season.

During a conversation with the painter whose work fills the stairways of Edmond Town Hall and other public buildings in neighboring towns, Mr Aryeh explained, “He said he wanted to have a theme — the seasons.” Thankful, Mr Aryeh continued, “[Mr Merrill] said he would like to do something, and he did this as a gift to the building and to me.” Aesthetics aside, the paintings have a hidden appeal. Mr Aryeh “takes a lot of pride” with the murals at the entrance.

With luck, the building will see additional artwork.

“We’re waiting for tenants to see if we could put more inside where they wouldn’t interfere with their vision for the space,” he said.

With splashes of landscaped gardens going in this week, the new office space is ready for occupancy — in line with a bustling of redevelopment along Church Hill Road. He sees the work taking place at the nearby old Grand Union site to make way for Caraluzzi’s Market, as well as other new businesses moving into the location on the corner of Queen Street and Church Hill Road.

Toro, a brand-new restaurant now open for business nearly across the street from Mr Aryeh’s property on The Boulevard, is another part of the thriving retail up and down the hill. From the flagpole down, Mr Aryeh believes Church Hill Road will become “a special part of town.” Noting activity on the road that will take place nearer to Interstate 84, he said, “They’re doing more nice work on projects near the highway.”

In The Business

The Church Hill corridor is less a commercial hub and more a home for professionals, which Mr Aryeh hopes to attract. Economic Development Commission Chairman Chet Hopper agreed that Church Hill Road has become a retail and professional district in town. He also mentioned the bulldozed earth and chain link fence currently surrounding the grounds around the old Grand Union building.

“Once that is redeveloped, it will be quite an attractive corner,” he said. The retail businesses, like Toro, “serve a need,” he said. The Japanese-American eatery catches his interest in particular.

“That was an addition that Newtown will enjoy, we’ll definitely benefit,” he said.

Running down the list of businesses from the flagpole toward Sandy Hook Center, he “sees things happening,” from real estate to CPAs to surveyors, medical services, and more. The area that includes Mr Aryeh’s location is attractive, Mr Hopper noted.

First Selectman Joe Borst is pleased to see “something being done” on the Grand Union site especially, and feels the entire area is progressing well, Mr Aryeh’s site included.

“I am a firm believer in smart growth and Church Hill is Newtown’s version,” he said.

About A Barn

Part of Mr Aryeh’s team, design engineer Alan Shepard said, “This is a property and house where there are still people living in town whose families once lived in it. It’s a well-known property and I’m proud we could have the development and save the house.”

Mr Shepard and town historian Dan Cruson both know some of the history attached to the barn and the original farmhouse now occupied by Prudential. Both men mentioned that the Beers family had owned the house and surrounding farmland for many years.

The barn had been across the street on the opposite side of The Boulevard from the Prudential building, where Mr Cruson believes a foundation still sits. He confirmed that the current Prudential building and barn had gone together.

“The old Colonial pattern was to have the barn across the street,” he said. Many drivers who frequently travel Church Hill Road will likely remember the structure. “It was only taken down in the last few years,” Mr Cruson said. Based on the way the structure was “carefully disassembled,” he believes it was reconstructed elsewhere. According to an article about the property located in The Bee archives, barns on the eastern side of The Boulevard belonging to the farm were later removed, and one of them was indeed rebuilt in Southbury.

Mr Cruson also discussed the farmhouse’s history. The house, later known as the George Beach Beers homestead, was built in the late 1790s.

“In 1819 it was a tavern,” he said. A physician-turned-tavern-owner, Gideon Shepherd ran what is known historically as Shepherd’s Inn. According to Ezra Johnson’s History of Newtown, Dr Shepherd established the inn after he turned over his medical practice to a fellow practitioner. The inn was a popular resort for sleighing parties and winter dancing. A fire destroyed most of Shepherd’s Inn and a Victorian wing was rebuilt.

The property “was run as a farm well up into the 1950s,” Mr Cruson explained.

Alan Shepard noted that the new office building representing the old barn, will be named 33.com on behalf of a business Mr Aryeh anticipates as a tenant. The new construction, he said, is a blending of old and new elements. The old farmstead sits near the road while the newer office suites are on a scale and proportion “in harmony” with the residential area, Mr Shepard said.

Mr Aryeh anticipates a ribbon cutting ceremony in coming weeks.