The Fairfield County Hunt Club has been in the news lately.
The low-key organization near the Fairfield line is building a new indoor tennis and squash facility.
They’ve got outdoor courts already, plus a pool and more. But equestrian sports have been a mainstay, ever since the club’s founding 101 years ago.
Polo events and horse shows draw non-member crowds. Through the 1970s, riders on horseback could be seen on Long Lots Road.
In the 1950s, Life Magazine showcased the Fairfield County Hunt Club. This scene offered, for readers across the country, a look into what they may have thought was typical for a town like ours:
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I lived at 56 North Maple Avenue from 1947 to 1961, two houses from the Burr house. I knew Emerson, Jane and Bruce Burr and used to hang out at the Hunt Club in the 1950s. I have so many stories about the Hunt Club too.
I like all those “Woodie station wagons. They’re certainly a “Flashback.”
Oh, I want the Woodies, too. But is the 3rd car a VOLKSWAGON?
3rd car is not a VW. It could be a DeSoto – I found a 1946 DeSoto 4 door custom sedan that looks a lot like it.
Not a Beetle. Too large. During the time frame of the photo,
that type of rear window and trunk configuration was in common use on that style vehicle. Not sure, but it looks like a four door (not two door) sedan. The dark haired woman leaning against the car is blocking the front door area.
There have been no polo events held at that club for years..
they tried it a few years ago and it was an abject fail…
Now maybe 100 years ago they used have them.. but please.. we are not in Argentina here..
the hunt club is not set up for polo..
we are in Westport Connecticut..
Early one Sunday morning In mid-1960s (1963? 1965?) I was in a small group riding horses and ponies from Weston to the Fairfield Hunt Club. We were taking our mounts from Mrs. Barnard’s small Weston farm to Fairfield to participate in Pony Club Camp at the hunt club. It was quiet except for the sounds of nature and the clip-clop of horses hooves on the pavement. That is, it was quiet until a motorcycle came roaring around a bend in the road with a middle-aged man and a small, blond little girl riding with him. Our horses scattered and the one I was on bolted off-road into the woods. The man and his motorcycle circled back around to see if everyone was okay. We were. He said, “The last thing I expected to see on the road this morning was a bunch of horses!” Well the last thing we expected to see was Paul Newman, much less talk to him! Even at a young age, I knew about him because my mother was a huge fan. Ah, what a memory!
so I guess the small blond girl was Lissy?
I think it must have been Nell.