THE OWNER’S INSPIRATION

The owners bought this property in 1949. They had come to New Haven in 1946 when the owner accepted a faculty position at Yale. Limited by the post-war housing shortage, they had bought a very modest house in West Haven, but soon wanted something with more space and more style.

They drew up a list of criteria and started looking. When they saw this property, they went down the list, and it didn’t meet any of the criteria. So they bought it.

Interested in modern architecture, which at the time was considered quite radical, they would go to New Canaan to see the daring new houses. These provided their inspiration.

The Old Quarry Association had been chartered in 1947, but this was the first house to be built, in 1950. Others came along rapidly after, forming a community of architecturally distinctive homes.

THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AT 123 OLD QUARRY ROAD

            How many residential properties in Connecticut can boast prairie grasses growing naturally? Or southwestern prickly pear cactus? Or southern post oaks? The natural vegetation on this property, which has been allowed to flourish on its own, is quite unusual for Connecticut. The gnarly post oak, with its Maltese cross shaped leaves, is more at home in Arkansas or Oklahoma, but grows rapidly here. Likewise, the prickly pear cactus has found a home on the seemingly inhospitable bare rocks, and has increased over the decades. In early summer, the plants are covered with luminous yellow flowers. There is goldenrod on the property that grows in only four other places in the state (two of them within a half mile) and a plant called yellow pimpernel that grows nowhere else in New England. One theory as to the cause of these rare plants being here is the presence of so many clam shells in the soil, which has been suggested to be a sign of an Indian midden.

            The rugged character of the land and its unusual natural vegetation are but two of the features that make this property different from most shoreline parcels. Combined with an architectural style which celebrates and enhances the natural environment, 123 Old Quarry Road provides a residential setting which is rarely found on the Connecticut shores.