This week, Dave Matlow focuses his “Then & Now” lens on the Coleytown neighborhood.
The series curator and pre-demolition archivist continues to illustrate Westport’s changing architecture.
Between 2004 and 2020, he photographed homes slated to be teardowns. Now, he shows us what’s taken their place.
A reminder: This is a community blog. Our neighbors live here. Some built those new structures; others are the second (or beyond) owners.
If you comment, please be kind. Taste is subjective. Wherever we live, everyone has loves their home.
Reichert Circle, June 2014 …
… and August 2026.
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Silver Brook Road, November 2006 …
… and July 2026.
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Coleytown Road, December 2011 ..
… and July 2026.
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Weston Road, March 2008 …
,,, and July 2026.
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My only comment is, as an aging Boomer, ranches are looking more and more attractive. Down here in Raleigh, the lot sizes are getting smaller and smaller so ranches are becoming a rarity and snatched up very quickly, regardless of the age. We too have the tear down and build up mentality with much larger homes, thus pricing many people out of the market. I look at the “before” pictures with much envy…
Since I can’t afford any of them, I’ll say I love them all. 😺👍😎
So many of these big homes were built or bought in a different interest rate environment. Those days may be forever gone, there’s definitely no time horizon that predicts their decline.
Coupled with a Gen Z buyer who is significantly more environmentally sensitive than their predecessors, I’m not sure the big boxes are as attractive as they used to be.
Re the “Then” photo of the Silver Brook house: I gather that’s a typo on the year but, regardless of the date of the ranch pic, I think that photo captures an addition that was made at some point to the original home (which I believe was built in the 1950s). In other words, I don’t recall the original home as being L-shaped (although admittedly my memory could be off all these decades later).
The Achorn’s owner, Murray Bravin, and his family—who lived two doors down from the one in the photo—had a very similar home (without the L addition); and a subsequent owner to the Bravins’ Silver Brook home in the late 1960s or early 1970s decided to expand that house by converting the garage into a large family room and then building a new freestanding garage after extending the driveway.
The bottom line was that both retained their ranch house styles after the expansions; and on my final visit down memory lane on Silver Brook in late 2025, the Bravins’ old ranch home was still there—one of the few that still remained in a neighborhood that, way back in the day, had a ton of kids who walked and biked (or were sometimes driven) to Coleytown as we weren’t far enough away to be eligible for bus service.
It was indeed a great area to grow up in.
Typo has been fixed on Silver Brook house — it’s from 2006.