For 46 years, Rick Benson has lived at the top of Compo Hill
For the last 11 of those years, he has watched as 233 Hillspoint Road — the property at the bottom, diagonally across from Old Mill Grocery — has been the scene of a long-running drama.
Positano restaurant closed, and was demolished. A new home was planned. Construction stalled. It sat for years, a blue Tyvek-swathed eyesore.
233 Hillspoint Road, in February 2024. (Photo/Totney Benson)
Last year, building began again. Soon, it stopped again.
Soon, Benson will be able to see the finished product.
In early November, he’ll be the new owner of 223 Hillspoint.
“When I find a problem I can solve, I try to do it,” Benson told “06880” yesterday, by phone. He’s in France, celebrating his 78th birthday.
Just before he left, he learned that a foreclosure auction — postponed from September — would be held this past Thursday. He quickly got ready.
There was one other bidder: the lenders, looking to recoup their investment.
Benson had a different motivation: to end “this 11-year nightmare.”
Construction halted again, this past July.
He’s motivated by more than neighborly interest. He’s been a builder since 1981. He’s constructed over 60 homes in Westport, and many condos.
He knows his way around a building site. And architectural plans.
What he’s acquired is a partially completed exterior: the view that’s visible to the hundreds of people passing by every day.
Inside, there’s almost nothing: some frames, temporary stairs, virtually no mechanicals.
“Basically, we’re starting from scratch,” Benson said.
To make things as painless as possible for neighbors — and get the completed home on the market by spring — Benson will make very few changes.
(He does hope to replace the windows on the beach side, which don’t open, with ones that do.)
The view from Old Mill Beach.
“I watched the decay and slow progress for a decade,” Benson noted. “I want this to be a complement to the neighborhood.”
There is “some market risk,” he admitted. But he is confident it will sell.
In the meantime, he said, “if anyone wants to make an offer, we’re happy to talk.”
Plans for the finished product.
(“06880 regularly reports on real estate, our beaches — and, occasionally, their intersection. If you appreciate stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Hats off the Rick for stepping in and I wish him well regarding a sale, wherein he does not lose too much money.
However, I must throw in the thought that “a compliment to the neighborhood” that structure will never be.
Ditto what Dan Katz wrote. If pneumonia was a building, this is what it would look like. Then again, ugly on the outside and empty on the inside arguably fits our time. Either way, good luck.
“ugly on the outside and empty on the inside arguably fits our time.”
Truer words….
Huge kudos to Rick! Like you, Dan, he’s a town gem.
There’s nothing pretty about it, but at least we know Rick and Totney will get it done, finally !
Thanks be to the Benson’s for stepping in.
Wow! Thank you Rick
I wish it could just be torn down. I’m glad the construction will be over, but it’s an ugly house, thoughtless and intrusive in its design. If only the town could take it to extend the beach.
Valerie, your idea has merit. A Westport teardown that actually makes sense and embodies a little self-sacrifice. The town could do it in a heartbeat, if it wanted to. Cursing the dawn is so much more satisfying to the nouveau riche than lighting a candle. Perhaps the museum of history and culture could acquire it and turn it into a branch museum of self-absorption history and culture (Petri dish variety).
Bless you Rick and Totney. It will only get better from here! The miscreants who have their fingerprints on this decade-long fiasco should all be run out of town.
So glad Rick is taking control of this project. I’m sure quick quick he can take all those orange things off around the outside and clean that right up. He probably did it already. Congrats Rick you might make the unsung hero column in the future!
WOW!Every agent in town will support your latest project to improve the neighborhood; thank you Rick/Totney. Happy Birthday ,
Rick.
I have been engaged in this problem for many years. There is fault in many places, the first owner Gibby Cohen, the ZBA, P&Z, the Building Department, the Town Attorney’s office, i.e. the First Selectwoman, and the Blight Board. I tried to get the Town to purchase the land, with private assistance, and donate it as a park to a land trust. I raised $40,000, a miniscule amount, in one day, but no Selectman or Woman accepted the challenge. I continue to hope that some of the very wealthy neighbors in the area would contact Selectwoman Tooker and come up with a plan to buy the property, demolish the structure and make the space a park. The park could be named after a donor who contributed $500,000 or more. Since the property is being sold in a foreclosure, the price could be very low, the lenders being the primary parties seeking to recoup their loans and interest.
How about it Town and neighbors. Take some action, provide some money and a achieve a vision. I can get $40,000 in a heartbeat.
It will be nice to see this project completed. It will be in great hands. Great to hear Rick has taken it on!
Wow! Great going Rick! Congratulations! The only caveat is, it’s too bad it is such an eyesore as it stands, but at least there is forward moving action! I love Don Bergman’s idea to turn it into a park! Much success to you and Totney!
Thanks, Rick, for stepping in regarding this horrendous eyesore. Morley got it right…”if pneumonia were a building it would be this one.” Opening the beachside windows is a lovely idea but please, desperately please, is it not possible to reduce the elephantine size to something more appropriate for the postage stamp on which it sits? Ideally, the structure would be removed to an eventual “remember when” story and the land would become the Rick and Totney Benson Park. Whenever I pass that location I reach for a Tums.
Am I missing something? Sounds like a hero story but I’m not getting it! A man who can afford to purchase the structure buys it at auction for resale. I still don’t get it.
The aesthetics of this house are at best questionable, and at worst a disaster. If there is very little inside and the windows are being replaced, does it make sense to redesign the top part of the structure into a more beautiful home with visual appeal for the neighborhood and a fresh take for a prospective buyer?
The town and neighbors behaved terribly on this one. But Good luck to Rick who is one of the best builders anywhere.