Compo Beach is a true “neighborhood.” Many homes on Soundview and its side streets have been in the same family for decades.
One of the those old, familiar houses was 8 Danbury Avenue. Teri Klein grew up in the magical cottage — and so did her children and grandchildren. They held weddings and parties there, ran on the beach, and admired the spectacular views.
8 Danbury Avenue.
Unfortunately, the house sat level with the ground. Hurricane Sandy damaged it beyond repair.
Today it was demolished.
(Photos by Betsy Phillips)
But this is not a typical Westport tear-down-a-small-old-house-and-throw-up-a-huge-new-one story.
Two couples living nearby — Dan Kahn and Betsy Phillips, and Peter Wormser and Liz Milwe — bought the house from Teri. Peter — a very talented architect and artist — incorporated much of the quaint and magical details of the old home into a new design.
The next 8 Danbury Avenue house will be built on a higher foundation than the previous one — new FEMA and local regulations have made sure of that. But there will still be a rocking-chair front porch, a similar look, the same Low Country southern charm.
The new home will be something increasingly rare in Westport: a new but familiar house.
“We’re beach people,” Betsy explains simply.
