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03/29/2016 12:00 AMA March 17 ceremony to unveil a historic plaque for the Captain Joseph W. Spencer house on Old Clinton Road also marked the end of Vista Life Innovations (the new name for Vista Life Skills and Vocational Center) Spencer house renovation project.
Painted on the new 11” x 18” oval plaque is a silhouette of the clipper ship David Crockett that Spencer captained. Also painted on the plaque is the year the house was built, circa 1850. The plaque’s ship silhouette design was developed by Lighthouse Signs in Westbrook using a painting of the ship provided by the Westbrook Historical Society as a source.
As a result of a state-grant funded historic investigation, the Capt. Spencer House is also now listed on the Connecticut State Registry of Historic Houses. That designation in turn made the renovation project eligible for the State Historical Preservation Office grant funding.
Society President Cathie Doane and plaque program coordinator Deborah Rie hope that this historic house plaque, the first to be affixed to a private residence, is just the first of many. Like this one, each historic plaque will be made from a composite material with a white surface and a black core that is revealed when carved. The new WHS plaque program launched this month is for buildings that are more than 100 years old.
Renovating and Preserving
In the case of the Capt. John W. Spencer house, the plaque also recognizes the strong commitment of the non-profit Vista Life Innovations organization to preserve the original house rather than tear it down and rebuild.
“We want to preserve the history of the town of Westbrook,” said Vista Executive Director Helen Bosch.
As Vista Operations Manager Bob Keefe explained, the renovation project was made more difficult than normal because crews had to plan and work around the 26 to 30 VISTA students who continued to live there during the project.
“This plan is a three-phase plan. This was the first phase. The areas that we’ve designated as most needful are now done,” said Keefe.
A key part of the first phase was to rebuild and renovate the bathrooms that the residents share to make them handicapped- accessible. That meant widening the doorways to accommodate wheelchair access, new bathroom fixtures, and added grab bars. New fire alarm annuciators and lights were added throughout the building since some residents are hard of hearing or have limited sight and need to be warned in an emergency.
Where possible, interior features that were original to the house were preserved such as archways, crown moldings, wooden window trim, stair banisters, and fireplace mantels and surrounds. This includes a wrap-around front porch that extends around to the rear of the main house.
The L-shaped addition originally was a separate horsebarn that a prior owner moved from elsewhere on the property and attached to the house. As part of this house renovation work, the roof of the horsebarn addition was raised to add two new student bedrooms upstairs. Those low-ceilinged areas had previously been Vista office space.
This year, the State of Connecticut has no grant funding available to support the next phase of the project so further work on the building is stalled until funding becomes available.
The WHS Plaque Program
Doane and Rie are optimistic that other homeowners of older homes will also want a plaque to commemorate their home’s historic status.
A second private-home plaque will soon be affixed to the Wright House on Chittenden Hill Road owned by architect Tom Elliott.
Anyone else who is interested in the plaque program should contact Doane at the Westbrook Historical Society by coming to the headquarters on the Town Green or through the society’s Facebook page.
“We will help with research, but it is the responsibility of the homeowner to complete it. Some work was done by Attorney Michael Wells around the time of the bicentennial. To research a home’s history requires going to Town Hall to look at land records, and going through probate records,” said Doane.
Applications for a historic home plaque are available at the Westbrook Historical Society Museum, which is open on the Town Green on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. until noon. Each historic plaque costs $200, or $175 for society members.
The David Crockett Ship
The history of the David Crockett Ship whose image will appear on the plaques was researched and presented in the Captain Spencer House historic house registry application, which is excerpted below:
“In the early 1850s, Captain Spencer made maritime history by building the 1,680-ton, three-deck David Crockett. Planned jointly by Spencer and Greenman Bros., a well-known shipyard on Connecticut’s Mystic River, the Crockett was considered a nearly perfect model of the Yankee clipper, a type of three-mast merchant vessel designed to carry small cargoes at high velocity over long distances. Designed with needle-sharp bows, these freighters were built for speeds of 20 knots or more; some could travel more than 400 miles in 24 hours.
“The David Crockett, built and outfitted at a cost of $93,000, was launched in 1853 into service of the New York-to-Liverpool packet line operated by the Handy & Everett Co. of New York. In 1855, with Joseph Spencer as commander, the Crockett sailed from Liverpool to the port of Aden in Yemen in 85 days. The vessel also made several record-breaking voyages between New York and San Francisco at the height of the California gold rush.”