Consider historic preservation beforehand

#MiddleburyCT #TranquillityVineyard #HistoricPreservation #SuperintendentsCottage

This view of the second floor bedroom in the Superintendent’s Cottage at Tranquillity Vineyard shows the walls and floors stripped to the studs and joists. This photo was among materials supplied by the National Park Service in response to a Freedom of Information request. (Submitted photo)

By MICHAEL C. DOOLING

The National Park Service (NPS), which oversees the National Register of Historic Places, advises that historic preservation should not be an afterthought when people rehabilitate historic structures. It should be built into the plans before restoration begins. The NPS regulations for rehabilitation projects state, “Owners who undertake rehabilitation projects without prior approval from the Secretary do so strictly at their own risk.” Such was the case when Tranquillity Estate LLC renovated an historic structure in the course of creating Tranquillity Vineyard.

Several years ago, the Dean Yimoyines family, under the umbrella of Ladd Holdings GP, acquired the former Tranquillity Farm overlooking Lake Quassapaug. It had been a working farm and was the summer home of John Howard Whittemore. Since acquiring the scenic property, the family has planted a vineyard and extensively renovated structures on the property. It appears that historic preservation was an afterthought when the architecturally important Superintendent’s Cottage was renovated.

The owners applied to the NPS for a 20% investment tax credit in 2019 for the “certified rehabilitation” of the Superintendent’s Cottage but did so 10 months after demolition had begun. Their application was denied based on two NPS rehabilitation standards:

Standard 2 – The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials or alteration of features, spaces and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided.

Standard 6 – Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary and physical evidence.

A Freedom of Information request made to the NPS revealed correspondence relating to this issue including a letter of response from Brian Goeken, Chief of Technical Preservation Services for the NPS. It reads in part, “The updated photographs illustrate that the work completed to date includes demolition of all floor, wall, and ceiling features, materials, and finishes throughout the entire building down to the studs and structure. The result is irreplaceable loss of all remaining historic features, material, and finishes … the completed demolition work substantially compromises the integrity and historic character of the property and therefore causes the overall project to not meet Standards #2 and #6.”

Tranquillity Estate LLC appealed the first decision from 2019. The appeal was again flat-out rejected in a letter dated August 31, 2020, and signed by John A. Burns, Chief Appeals Officer of the NPS. The four-page letter reads in part, “… I have determined that the proposed – but already under construction – rehabilitation of the Superintendent’s Cottage at Tranquillity Farm is not consistent with the historic character of the property, and hereby affirm the denial of certification issued by TPS (Technical Preservation Services) in the Decision.”

The letter provides detailed descriptions of the work already undertaken by contractors and the reaction of the NPS, reading in part:

“TPS also objected to removal of historic stairways and chimneys, relocating partition walls that defined historic corridors and rooms, replacement of historic wood windows without documentation of substantial damage or deterioration, removal and/or relocation of historic doors, and site alterations for an enlarged and raised patio adjacent to the primary facade and entrance, and alterations made for ADA compliance that compromised historic features in multiple locations in and around the building … Once the proposed work is completed, the interior of the 1895 cottage will be fundamentally altered and its historic configuration will be unrecognizable … Accordingly, I have determined that cumulative impact of the partially completed rehabilitation on the Superintendent’s Cottage at Tranquillity Farm has significantly compromised the overall historic character of the property and thus fails to meet the Standards. I hereby affirm TPS’s November 21, 2019 Decision.”

Since the historically compromised renovations of the Superintendent’s Cottage, the vineyard project has directed its efforts at extensive renovations of the barn, but no evidence has surfaced of further requests for tax credits. It should be noted that the Yimoyines organizations own two other significant historic properties in Middlebury that also are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They include the former Judd-Ambrozaitis woodworking shop on West Street where Vyne restaurant is located; it too has undergone extensive renovations. The third property is the stately Bronson–Keggi house also on West Street; its future use is undetermined.