Many Westporters admire the Gault barn.
Set midway between Post Road East and Bridge Street, on Compo Road South, the handsome red building is a throwback, to days gone by. (And a reminder that the Gault family — whose nearby Saugatuck business dates back to the agricultural and coal-hauling days of the 1800s — remain one of our town’s most beloved, and philanthropic, families.)
But there’s another view of the Gault barn that fewer Westporters see.
Tom Kretsch captured it last week, for our Photo Challenge. His image — with shades of red and tan, narrow windows, and a low stone wall — could have been mistaken for a painting of a long-ago European scene. (Click here to see.)
Tom says, “I have lived in Westport for 52 years. I have walked and jogged by the Gault Barn hundreds of times. Last week I stopped and saw a sign by the Westport Artist Association, with historical information about the barn.
“There was a picture of a painting by an artist whose name escapes me of the back side of the barn. I never knew of this back side.
“I walked down a hill behind the barn, and was astounded by that perspective. I came back another day with more favorable lighting to compose the image.
“What a treasure that building is in this town.”
Twenty readers quickly identified that treasure. Some grew up in Westport. Others are much newer arrivals.
All — like Tom — revere the Gault barn.
Congratulations to Michael Chait, Brian Taylor, Sue Iseman, John McKinney, Morley Boyd, Chip Stephens, Dave Eason, Jen Carpenter, Beth Berkowitz, Seth Braunstein, E. Bruce Borner, Lynn Wilson, A. Starr, Jonathan McClure, Sal Liccione, Tom Wall, Seth Schachter, Nancy Diamond, Matt McGrath and Judi Koffsky.
And for the rest of you: You’ve got one more treasure in Westport to discover.
Here is his week’s Photo Challenge. If you know where in Westport you would see this, click “Comments” below.
(Photo/Janine Scotti)
