Beautiful Weather And Polite Guests Combined For

 One Of The Best Homes And Gardens Tours To Date

By Shannon Hicks

Brid Craddock’s gardens offered continuous delights to those who walked out to her backyard at 59 Main Street. The fully renovated Geckle (rhymes with Jekyll) home on Queen Street exceeded expectations. Sandy and Ellie Neiman’s home and gardens were oohed and ahhed over for hours. And it was a toss-up between the coffin nail door and the wooden floors that creaked that was more charming in the home of Deanna Young and Mark Belanger.

For six hours last weekend the public was invited to visit the privately owned homes and/or gardens at eight locations in Newtown and Sandy Hook. Between the cooperative weather and the attraction of the homes that were selected for this year’s Newtown Historical Society Historic Homes & Gardens Tour, the day was easily a success. Homeowners and gardeners stood by proudly as strangers looked through their properties, and obviously enjoyed what they saw.

Jo-Ann Scebold coordinated this year’s event.

“It was a great success. I think we must have had a record-breaking year,” she said Monday morning. “We actually sold out very early on Saturday, so we ended up having to put a sign on the Curtiss House door,” she added, referring to the headquarters of Newtown Historical Society and the traditional location for last-minute ticket sales. The tour opened on Saturday at 11 am, and the tickets that had been remaining that morning — many people decided to purchase their tickets in advance, avoiding possible disappointment — were gone by 11:35.

Ticket sales were strong well before the day of the tour. Participants could purchase their tickets in person at C.H. Booth Library and The Little Green Barn. Fourteen orders were filled by mail including one coming in from Florida for some people who were going to be in town last weekend.

Proceeds of the annual event benefit the ongoing programs and upkeep of the headquarters for Newtown Historical Society.

“I had so many comments from every homeowner about how polite, how interested, and how wonderful the ticket holders were. It was such a compliment to the people of this town,” said Ms Scebold. “Everyone seemed pleased.

“Even Mother Nature must have enjoyed the day because she had a big sunshine smile,” she continued. “Almost every home and garden was different so it was really a wonderful variety.”

Ms Scebold was aided by Newtown residents Paula Stephan and Marcia Cavanaugh, who, respectively, arranged for docents and floral arrangements by members of The Garden Club of Newtown. Mrs Stephan used her wide network of friends for some of the house guides and captains, and worked with Anita Arnold at Newtown Youth Services to enlist a number of teens to check tickets and also serve as docents.

Mrs Cavanaugh, meanwhile, arranged for fellow members of the garden club in which she is a member to donate fresh floral arrangements to each home.

Each property offered a delight, a surprise, or inspiration. Among this year’s highlights:

The barn that is now a home at 4 Jeremiah Road was first identified in early notes (and preview stories in The Bee) as a barn that had been built in Monroe, then dismantled and rebuilt in Sandy Hook. Days before the tour, however, a couple who has lived in the area for more than 60 years contacted Ms Scebold with details that clarified that story.

The structure that is now being rented by Gary Zemola has in fact been in place since the 19th Century. Dan Long, who was a very creative artisan and a previous owner of the property, did in fact dismantle another 19th Century barn in Monroe but he used the components of the Monroe barn to renovate the Sandy Hook structure.

“Evidently Dan Long was noted for this type of restoration,” Ms Scebold told tour guides who were working at Mr Zemola’s residence on Saturday. “He was a wonderful craftsman and he understood how to restore old things that had missing parts.”

Across the street, visitors were charmed by the contrast of the creaking floorboards and beehive ovens in the living room and the thoroughly modern amenities in the kitchen of the home of Deanna Young and Mark Belanger.

The property, like its counterpart across the street, was also once owned by Dan Long. One visitor on Saturday remarked on the amazing transformation of the house and property since Mr Long’s ownership.

“I remember looking at this house when my husband and I were moving into town a number of years ago, and the house was in such bad shape,” she said. “You almost felt like you could put your hands through the beams. Dan Long did so much amazing work here.”

Sandy and Ellie Neiman were welcoming friends and strangers to their home on Brushy Hill Road. Mrs Neiman was worried over the state of her rose garden, but must have been content to know that while she lost many of her roses this year, the garden’s form was still very strong and appealing to the eye.

After seeing larger gardens at some of the properties, many people were commenting on the small yet well-groomed garden in the backyard of Frank and Ellen Lapak. Mr Lapak has a smaller area to work with and has created a square garden bisected by walkways of white pebbles. A small outbuilding creates the backbone of the main garden, while a second space of plantings abuts the northeast side of the Lapaks’ home.

“This is very pretty,” one visitor said. “After seeing some of the enormous lawns and gardens on this tour, it’s nice to see something like this. It’s wonderful. It’s on a scale that almost anyone can handle.”

Another visitor called the garden “manageable … adorable.”

Around the corner from the Lapak home, the Geckle residence was one of the tour’s most admired homes. Having recently undergone major renovations inside and out, the home was impeccable in its presentation and impressive in its newfound beauty. Bob and Kathy Geckle purchased the 1820 house and its 1850 barn — which was his childhood home while his father worked as business manager at Fairfield Hills — from the Town of Newtown two years ago.

The couple has lovingly restored every floor, wall, ceiling, door handle, kitchen cabinet and barn beam to its original strength, beauty and function. It’s a showcase that will be loved for generations.