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    • Why Preservation ?
    • Why Historic Designation?
    • Historic Buildings Album
  • Thomas Lyon House
  • News
  • Profiles in Preservation
  • Contact Us - Donate
Greenwich Preservation Trust

OUR MISSION:  To educate and  advocate for preservation of our 

historic and cultural resources  through preservation projects

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Josephine "Jo" Conboy - Our most recent Award Winner!

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Related media of special interest

A Brief Video of the Thomas Lyon House History

A Brief Video of the Thomas Lyon House History

A Brief Video of the Thomas Lyon House History

Video Presentation of the history of the Thomas Lyon House including a virtual "walk-through", narrated by Lyon descendent Julie Pollock. Part of the Bruce Museum's "Greenwich Lost and Preserved" exhibit https://brucemuseum.org/site/exhibitions_detail/greenwich_lost_and_preserved 

Connecticut Freedom Trail - Amistad Essay

A Brief Video of the Thomas Lyon House History

A Brief Video of the Thomas Lyon House History

The Lyon Family played a key role in early Abolitionist movements and is part of the Connecticut Freedom Trail. This essay explores one of the major events in Slavery - the slave ship Amistad.  https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.941 

THE THOMAS LYON HOUSE

Circa 1910

1927 - House Moved to present location

Circa 1910

The restoration and preservation of the Thomas Lyon House is one of Greenwich Preservation Trust’s m

The restoration and preservation of  the Thomas Lyon House is one of Greenwich Preservation Trust’s most  pressing priorities. Threatened with demolition in 2007, members of  Greenwich Preservation Trust saved the house from the wrecking ball.  Today, GPT is planning for the house to have a vibrant and safe future  and continue to occupy a special place for those interested in  preservation, architecture, genealogy, sociology and local history.


The Byram Neighborhood Association formed  the Thomas Lyon House Committee in 2006 to insure that the c1695  structure would not be demolished and investigate possible uses for it.  The Committee’s first goal was to document the age and condition of the  house with a title search, historic structure report and  dendrochronology study. The Town’s Conservation Commission, and its  director Denise Savageau, funded the title search and the historic  structure report. The dendrochronology study was done courtesy of the  Cornell Tree-Ring Laboratory. The Thomas Lyon House Committee  established the Greenwich Preservation Trust in 2008.

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Circa 1915

1927 - House Moved to present location

Circa 1910

The Thomas Lyon House is the oldest unaltered Colonial house in Greenwich. Probably built circa 1695

 The Thomas Lyon House is the oldest unaltered Colonial house in  Greenwich. Probably built circa 1695, it remains relatively unchanged  and retains a Colonial footprint established more that 300 year ago.  Moved nearly intact in 1927 from its first site on the north side of  Boston Post Road, this classic saltbox retains much of its original  building material. 


The house is also significant due to it's role in the Colonial American slave trade. Read more about it here: 


https://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Greenwich-house-once-home-to-escaped-slave-5754177.php


Greenwich Preservation Trust has included the documentation of early Slave families and the larger Freedom Trail story as an integral part of their mission to tell the full story of the Lyon Family.

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1927 - House Moved to present location

1927 - House Moved to present location

1927 - House Moved to present location

 In 1922 the Atlantic Highway, which ran from Maine to Florida, was  renamed Route 1, and changes to the 2,400-mile road began in many  states. In Greenwich the road was slated to be widened in 1925, and town  leaders began to look for a suitable entryway to Greenwich, and, by  extension, to the rest of New England. 


The road was part of the ancient Boston Post Road system and retains that name in many places. In Greenwich it is called Putnam Avenue or US 1 today. 


Greenwich Preservation Trust takes it's commitment to preserving the house seriously. We continue to work with the Town to restore and find  an appropriate use for the Thomas Lyon House. Knowing that many of  Greenwich’s rich architectural heritage buildings were being threatened  with demolition, Greenwich Preservation Trust broadened their mission  statement to advocate for the preservation of ALL of the town’s historic  structures.   

Circa 1930 - After Relocation

1927 - House Moved to present location



 When Julia Lyon Saunders (the last of six generations of the Lyon family  to occupy the house) and her husband Chester realized her family’s home  would be demolished to accommodate the new road, they accepted an offer  from the Lions and Rotary clubs in 1925 to move it to the opposite side  of the road, on land the Town had purchased for the new Byram School,  to be used as the “Gateway to New England.” 


Moving the house meant that much of the existing context would be lost. The foundation, outbuildings, fences, plantings, and potentially significant archeological data, were all lost. But most importantly, the house was saved. In addition, much of the interior furnishings are artifacts were also preserved by the Lyon family.



Read about one of Thomas Lyon's son Joseph's  home "up the Byram River:



 https://greenwichhistory.org/ls_josephlyonhouse/




We need help preserving this House!

The house is a wonderful example of "colonial vernacular" construction and is one of the oldest unaltered houses in Connecticut. But it needs substantial restoration and stabilization. Our mission is to bring it back to life and open it to the public as a teaching museum. It will showcase many of the original Lyon Family artifacts that have been carefully preserved and catalogued.  As a public space, a variety of seasonal historic and community events will be highlighted. 


There is much work to be done. Previous plans to move the house a second time have been dropped in favor of preserving the house where it stands. Read more about that decision here: 


 https://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Change-of-plans-for-preserving-a-historic-house-15524677.php


Read more about this remarkable National Historic Register house and the Lyon Family here:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lyon_House

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More about the History of the House

How did the house survive in a virtually unaltered condition for so long?

 

The onset of The Great Depression in 1929 left no funds for historic preservation. In 1932 the house was  leased to The American Fence Company, who would use  one downstairs room as an office and restore the interior. But the Greenwich Press stated on April 7, 1932,  “the shrine  is not to be commercialized or its value as a historic spot lessened by  offensive advertising.” Two months later, the Lions and  Rotary clubs opened it to the public on June 28, 1932.. To raise funds, the clubs would rent the house, using the income for  their philanthropies, which they did for nearly 70 years.


In 1980 the Rotary Club ceded their interest to the Lions  Club Foundation. When repairs to the house became too costly, they gave  the house to the Town, which assumed legal responsibility for it in  January 2007. The Town maintains the site and has removed 20th-century  material that marred the house’s exterior.


The Thomas Lyon House has attracted  the interest of architectural historians throughout the 20th century. It  was included in a Works Progress Administration study in the 1930s, the  Connecticut Statewide Inventory of Historic Houses in 1966, and listed  on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It is mentioned in  J. Frederick Kelly’s The Early Domestic Architecture of Connecticut and Florence S. Crofut’s Guide to the History and the Historic Sites of Connecticut.

About Greenwich Preservation Trust

How We're Helping - and why Donations are so critical to our Mission

The mission of the Greenwich Preservation Trust is to educate and  advocate for the preservation of our historic and cultural resources  through preservation projects and developing preservation incentives in  planning land use policy and regulations. 

Please donate!

Greenwich Preservation Trust

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Jo Conboy-Chairman

Paul Pugliese -Vice Chairman

Andrew Melillo-Vice Chairman

Margaret Conboy-Secretary

Bob McKnight-Treasurer


Board of Directors

John Franco       

Maura O’Connor

Chuck Hilton     

Debbie DiRaimo

Dean Gamanos


Advisors

Stephen Bishop                Norm Davis

Elise Green                      Susan Kontos

Drew Marzullo                 Teresa Vega

Pamala Pagnanni            Anne Young

Kate Young               Christine Varner
 


Get Involved

Are you passionate about what we're doing? Let us know! We are always looking for volunteers to help us make our vision a reality. We'll help you find a way to volunteer that best suits you. We're excited to have you join the team!


Please contact us: info@greenwichpreservationtrust.org  


Thank You!


Whether you help through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We couldn't accomplish our goals without the help of supporters like you.  

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Greenwich Preservation Trust

PO Box 4719 Greenwich, CT 06831

(203) 661-6343 info@greenwichpreservationtrust.org

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