Life on the village green in quaint New England towns: short walks to shops, a sense of community and really good parade seats
By Amy Gamerman March 28, 2019 11:06 a.m. ET The 8-acre green in Guilford, Conn., dates to the town’s founding in 1639 by Puritans. Photo: Julie Bidwell for The Wall Street Journal After raising two children in a suburban subdivision in Guilford, Conn., Howard and Edie Brown were ready for a major lifestyle change.
.webui-slideshow-inset a:link, a:visited { color: initial; } Life on the Village GreenThe homes and lifestyles in towns around New England. In 2015, Harry and Elizabeth Spring bought the 1833 Benoni Bates house in Wickford, a historic waterfront village in North Kingstown, R.I.Julie Bidwell for The Wall Street Journal1 of 26••••• 1 of 26Show Caption In 2015, Harry and Elizabeth Spring bought the 1833 Benoni Bates house in Wickford, a historic waterfront village in North Kingstown, R.I.
Howard and Edie Brown bought an 1849 Italianate home one block from the green for $325,000 in 1999 and have since spent about $400,000 to remodel and expand it. Photo: Julie Bidwell for The Wall Street Journal Guilford’s green dates to the town’s founding in 1639 by Puritans, who built their first homes and a church there. “The town was literally laid out with the central green dictating the design pattern,” said Joel Helander, town historian.
Local developers are seeking to capitalize on the town center’s appeal. A condominium complex in a historic 1884 mill building, called 66 High Street, opened two streets from the Guilford Green in 2016, with 15 units. When the last of three new buildings is completed in 2021, it will have up to 57 units. More than half are already sold, according to Byron Lazine, an agent with William Raveis Real Estate, exclusive broker for the complex. List prices for available units range from $740,000 to $3.
Mr. Spring converted the front porch into a narrow gallery for displaying his ceramics and built a studio and a patio behind the house, at a cost of about $85,000. The house, opposite the site of an old shipyard, has harbor views; the Springs like to kayak off a ramp behind the drugstore. That hints at a potential downside of moving into a historic town center: Longtime residents, whose families may have been there for generations, aren’t always welcoming. The Browns got flack when they remodeled their Guilford house. Some neighbors even objected when they removed the aluminum siding from the clapboard walls. “They didn’t like the fact that we were changing things. We’ve been in Guilford since 1970 but we’re still newcomers,” Mr. Brown said.
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