Sunrise Senior Living Saves Antique Barn in Connecticut, Donates Structure to the Wilton Historical Society
January 4, 2018
MCLEAN, VA, & WILTON, CT–With construction efforts set to begin for a new assisted living community in Wilton, CT, Sunrise Senior Living has announced that it will save the historic barn on the old Young’s Nursery grounds, located at 211 Danbury Road, and donate the structure to the Wilton Historical Society.
“This was simply the right thing to do, and we are excited to help preserve such a special part of Wilton’s history,” said Philip Kroskin, senior vice president of real estate for Sunrise. “Sunrise is committed to thoughtful, sustainable design of our communities, which includes being compatible with the surrounding land. We respect the important aspects of neighborhood life that came before us, while also looking ahead to our new Sunrise community, which will become home for area seniors.”
Sunrise has agreed to cover the cost of disassembling the structure in order to save it. Connecticut’s barns are vanishing treasures, and according to Lee Wilson, an emeritus trustee and co-vice president of buildings and grounds at the Society, “The Wilton Historical Society is eager to preserve this dairy barn, an antique structure that is an essential piece of Wilton’s history. In this age of tear-downs, and scant appreciation or understanding of our past, it is refreshing to see Sunrise’s commitment to historic preservation.”
The Wilton Historical Society plans to store the 19th-century structure and commence fundraising to restore and repurpose it. According to the Society, the barn will most likely be rebuilt as a dwelling on the Cannondale campus, where, similar to most of the other historical structures the Society has preserved, it will be rented out to pay for ongoing preservation maintenance.
“It’s a win-win for Wilton, that’s for sure,” said Allison Sanders, director, communications of the Wilton Historical Society. “This is a very generous gift to the community, and we are enormously grateful to Sunrise for their contribution and for having the foresight to save an historic structure for future generations.”
Sunrise’s commitment to local historic preservation extends to another one of its new senior living communities, Sunrise at Silas Burke House, opening in late January in a suburb of Washington, D.C. Built on the grounds of the Silas Burke House (c.1842) in Burke, Virginia, Sunrise’s new community was carefully designed to preserve the physical structure of the nearby historic home. Sunrise agreed to help maintain the 193-year-old house indefinitely and open it up for various neighborhood groups to use.
Sunrise’s new senior living community in Wilton, Connecticut, is tentatively scheduled for completion in mid-2019.
