New Canaan, Connecticut

New Canaan is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of New Canaan, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It represents the built-up center of town around the intersections of Main Street, East Street, Elm Street, and South Avenue. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.

New Canaan station is a commuter rail station on the New Canaan Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Maxwell E. Perkins House is a historic house at 63 Park Street in New Canaan, Connecticut. The Greek Revival house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The house was home to Maxwell E. Perkins, the editor of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe. The house was built in 1836 for Mrs. Clarinda Fitch Ayres (a widow) and her unmarried brothers. During the 19th century, the house was first a private house and then was used as a boarding house. After a period as a day school (1919–1924), the house was acquired by Maxwell E. Perkins and his wife who lived in the house with their five daughters. The house was in very poor condition by the time it was purchased by Richard and Sandra Bergmann, architects who restored the house for use both as their architectural offices and their house.In 2019 the house was acquired by the Onera Foundation with the intention of converting the house into an architectural museum and exhibit space. The foundation hired William D. Earls, AIA as the architect for the project and hired Milton Gregory Grew, AIA as codes consultant. The design professionals prepared construction documents that were submitted for permits in early 2020.

The John Rogers Studio and Museum is the preserved studio of sculptor John Rogers, a popular American artist called "the people's sculptor" in the latter 19th century. It is located at 13 Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan, Connecticut, on the grounds of the New Canaan Historical Society, which opens it to the public. The studio houses a collection of "Rogers Groups"—plaster statuettes often depicting two or more people. The display area has been reconfigured to reflect the feeling of the artist's studio. Rogers Groups often depicted people interacting with each other in a sentimental scene. According to the National Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service, the museum's collection is "one of the finest collections of Rogers groups in the nation". The studio is a Gothic-Victorian gable-roofed building built in 1878. John Rogers's popularity stemmed from the way his statuary groups created scenes of everyday life with a sentimental feel that has been compared to the much later Norman Rockwell. Instead of working in bronze and marble, he sculpted in more affordable plaster, painted the color of putty to hide dust.Rogers was prolific as well of popular. During his 33-year career he produced almost 80,000 plaster copies of his 86 "Rogers Groups." His statuettes decorated Victorian parlors throughout the United States.Sculpture on display includes "The Traveling Magician", showing a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat for two children, and "The Neighboring Pews", depicting a moment among people in church. "Union Refugees" depicts a scene from the Civil War.The studio was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965. In 2003, a $95,000 matching grant under the Save America's Treasures program included financing for a climate-control and air-filtration system to ensure long-term preservation of both the building and the collection.

The Hampton Inn, also known as The Maples Inn, is a historic former hotel property at 179 Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan, Connecticut. It is a three-story wood frame Colonial Revival structure, built in 1908 as a vacation boarding house. It is the only surviving building of its type in New Canaan. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The New Canaan Nature Center (40 acres or 16 hectares) is a botanical garden, arboretum and nature preserve located at 144 Oenoke Ridge, Route 124, about .25 miles (0.40 km) north of the center of New Canaan, Connecticut. The nature center includes wet and dry meadows, two ponds, wet and dry woodlands, dense thickets, an old orchard, and a cattail marsh, as well as a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) greenhouse. Landscaped areas of the site include a wildflower garden (which won the 1997 Homer Lucas Landscape Award from the New England Wild Flower Society), a herb garden and a perennial border. About 90% of the plant specimens in the wildflower garden are native species, including bloodroot, columbine, mayapple, jack-in-the-pulpit, wild geranium, Solomon's plume, starflower, and trillium. Shade-loving perennials include bleeding heart, crested iris, Jacob's ladder, hepatica, European ginger and Virginia bluebells. Azaleas, rhododendrons and a stand of mountain laurel also feature. The center also contains a small arboretum of Sciadopitys verticillata (Umbrella Pine), Chamaecyparis pisifera Squarrosa (Moss Sawara Cypress), Chamaecyparis pisifera Plumosa (Plume False Cyprus), Pinus densiflora ‘Umbraculifera’ (Japanese Umbrella Pine), Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropunicea’ (Purple Beech), Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’ (European Weeping Beech), Cercis canandensis (Eastern Redbud), Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum-Pendula’, Pinus cembra (Swiss Stone Pine) and Picea apies ‘Repens’ (Weeping Norway Spruce). New Canaan Nature Center features many nature programs throughout the year, including the Fall Fair every October, and maple sugaring celebrations in early spring.

The Durisol House, also known as the Jens Risom House is a historic house at 43 Marshall Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut. Built in 1949, this Mid-Century Modern house was built to showcase cement-bonded wood fiber, a newly-developed material marketed under the brand name Durisol. The house was bought soon after its construction by designer Jens Risom, and is also known as the Jens Risom House. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

The Marcel Breuer House II, also known as the New Canaan Breuer House I, is a historic house at 122 Sunset Hill Road in New Canaan, Connecticut. Built in 1947, it was designed by architect Marcel Breuer as a home for his family. It is an important early example of his Modern Movement designs, with a cantilevered design featuring glass and stone finishes. The house, occupied by his family for just four years, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

The Isaac Davis and Marion Dalton Hall House is a historic house at 25 Lambert Road in New Canaan, Connecticut. Built in 1962 for a local lawyer, it is one of two houses in the community designed by local architect William F. Pederson, and is part of its significant collection of Mid-Century Modern architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

The Hanford Davenport House, also known as the Davenport-Green House, is a historic house at 353 Oenoke Ridge in New Canaan, Connecticut, United States. It was built in 1820. It was listed, along with a 19th-century barn on the property, on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The house is significant as a fine example of Federal architecture and features especially high quality Adamesque carving in its interior.

New Canaan High School is the only public high school in New Canaan, Connecticut. In 2017, it was ranked the best public high school in Connecticut, and one of the top 200 in the nation. New Canaan High School was ranked the 74th best STEM high school in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.The school is a part of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, otherwise known as the FCIAC. The New Canaan Rams have won numerous state championships. New Canaan is known for its competitive football, lacrosse, ice hockey, and tennis teams. Its football team holds 22 state championships and is consistently a top 10 team in the state. In 2016, its boys' lacrosse team was ranked 3rd in the nation.

The Rayward–Shepherd House, also known as Tirranna and as the John L. Rayward House, was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and built in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1955 for Joyce and John Rayward. Although commissioned by the Raywards, Herman R. Shepherd completed the design after purchasing it in 1964. William Allin Storrer credits Shepherd's actions with salvaging the house, repairing the poor work that Storrer attributes to John Rayward's "constant pursuit of the lowest bid." (Storrer, 411) "Tirranna" is an Australian aboriginal word meaning "running waters," an apt name for this spectacular residence. Located on a pond just off the Noroton River, it features elaborate land and water-scaping. Built of standard concrete block, glass, and Colorundum flooring, and trimmed with Philippine mahogany, most of the house conforms to a hemicycle plan. Its living/dining wing overlooks a pool which steps down to a pond and extensive landscaped gardens, designed by Frank Okamura, landscape architect for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Charles Middeleer, a notable local landscape architect, also contributed to the landscape design.The Rayward House includes a later (1958) extension featuring an observatory above the master bedroom dressing room, as well as a playhouse for the Raywards’ daughters, Victoria and Jennifer (1957), which echoes the hemicycle form of the main house. The site was purchased by Herman R. Shepherd in 1964. According to Storrer, after 1964, Wright's successor firm, Taliesin Associated Architects (TAA), "provided a major extension beyond the work room...." which "leads to a greenhouse with servant and guest quarters, shop and extra carport." Later work by TAA "brought about the enclosure of the space between original bedroom wing and added master bedroom wing, gaining an atrium and informal living room.... Even later, a circular deck was added above the main pool." (Storrer, 411) It had been purchased in the late 1990s by businessman Ted Stanley and his wife Vada. After Stanley's death, the property with 15-acres was put on the market in January 2017 for US$8,000,000 by his heirs. The house sold in March 2018 for a reported US$4.8 million.