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The "Jason Skinner House'
(continued)
Roger P. Plaskett
In 1984 an application
was made for the Skinner House and the old Cyrus Wilson
House (Where DEP Headquarters are on Plymouth Road)
for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1985 it was named to the Register but the Cyrus Wilson
House was declined. The Skinner House was now the first
house in Harwinton to be named to the National Register.
Also in 1984 the
Harwinton Housing Authority was formed as the need for
affordable elderly housing was evident. Its leader,
Elizabeth Cooling, approached Roy Gilley about including
the house in the Wintergreen project.
The FHA was funding
the poject and they agreed to commit $45,000 to the
Skinner House move but that would hardly be enough.
It was estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $100,000
to dismantle the house, move it, and reassemble at the
Wintergreen site.
Town Attorney Michael
Rybek, authored a bill for preservation and introduced
it in Hartford that would provide a $50,000 grant from
the State. It quickly passed through the House of Representatives
and. on July 1st, 1985, it was signed into law by then
governor Bill O'Neil in our own Harwinton Consolidated
School Auditorium.
In October of 1985,
the town approved plans to move the building and Ron
Morin Contractors of Putnam was hired to do the dismantling
and reconstruction. Because of their location, most
of the workers camped right at the site.
Board by board the house was dismantled and everything
was marked.
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The
craftsmanship of a earlier time was revealed |
The
studding and the clapboards were so bad that very
little was reused |
The entire dismantling only took about three weeks to
complete.
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The
Restoration
is complete |
June
14th, 1987 the house was re-born |
Today the house serves as a Community
Facility and laundry Facility for the folks staying
at Wintergreen. The Wintergreen management also maintains
an office there. The Harwinton Historical Society rents
the upper floors for their processing and storage area.
It remains as one of the few
houses in the country that gained recognition on the
National Register and was then moved but remained on
the Register.
Sources:
Conversations with Roy Gilley
Conversation with Michael Rybek
Numerous newspaper articles from the Hartford Courant,
Waterbury Republican and Torrington Register.
Notes written by lloyd Shanley Jr.
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