By NEAL RENTZ
Three families who achieved landmark status for their properties over the last two years were honored by the Pound Ridge Landmarks and Historic District Commission on Sunday at the Town House.
Aside from recognizing those who obtained landmark status, the commission is working to encourage other Pound Ridge homeowners and property owners to follow suit.
Honored at the Oct. 20 event were the owners of two properties which were landmarked by the commission in 2023: the A.R. Scofield House (1875), owned by Thomas and Keren Richter, and the Sarles-Bode House (1740), owned by Guilio and Sandy Possenti.
This year’s landmarked property is the Coleman-Flood Barn (1880) at the Pound Ridge Montessori, owned by Cahal and Teresa Whelan.
“We have long felt that people don’t understand the benefits of owning a landmarked home in Pound Ridge,” Landmarks and Historic District Commission chair, Edward Forbes, told attendees. “This place is a treasure box and it just absolutely is. We have one of the finest collections of 18th century and 19th century farmhouses anywhere in the country.”
Following the presentations, Forbes said that aside from honoring those who received landmark status for their properties, the event also sought to encourage other residents to pursue landmark status.
“We have more than 70 landmarked properties and ancient cemeteries in town, by ancient I mean private cemeteries that are not in active use,” he said. “We’d always like to have more. This town is a treasure chest of architecture.”
Forbes said the commission is actively recruiting owners of mid-century modern homes to seek landmark status.
“We want to build some community around the fact that this is a unique part of living in Pound Ridge,” he said.
The commission faced a setback last year when the planning board agreed to allow the Rockefeller family to tear down their home and rebuild the structure, Forbes said.
“We were disappointed with the decision to proceed with demolition,” he said. “We understand the homeowners’ concerns with that. I was concerned about losing a jewel of mid-century modern architecture. Other people in the community were as well, including people attached to the commission. That ship has sailed.”
The town has several homes comparable to the Rockefeller family’s mid-century house the commission wants to see landmarked, Forbes said.
“We will aggressively seek to do so because we think that they are part of the architectural heritage of the community and they’re important,” he said.
Forbes said there are no tax incentives for town residents who obtain landmark status for their structures. “You’re basically making a decision when you decide to landmark your property that you’re happy with where you’ve gotten and want to basically stay within a reality that’s recognizable for the way you own your home,” he said.
“We do want to build community and so that’s our motivation for doing this event,”Forbes said, adding he wanted to have residents get to know others who have received landmarks status for their properties.
Cahal Whelan, who is a commission member, after the ceremony that the couple opened their Montessori school in an old farm on Pound Ridge Road decades ago. The family wanted landmark status for the barn for the home where the Whelan family lives after previously receiving landmark status for their home, he said.
The property, which includes the school, the barn and the house, was purchased by the Whelan family in the late 1960s after the couple moved separately to the United States from Ireland. The couple met in America.
“We wanted to purchase the school, but they would not sell the school without the house,” Whelan said. “We renovated the house to make it a landmarked house.”
Teresa Whalen formerly ran the school, which is now being overseen by the couple’s daughter.
Cahal Whalen encouraged other property owners to seek landmark status for their properties.
“It’s meaningful,” he said, noting there are no farms in town currently and the family wanted to honor the memory of the farming past of Pound Ridge.
“We’ve always enjoyed history,” he said. “I know my history. I wrote a little book on the land markers of Westchester County.”
