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Rowayton, Connecticut

Geography of Norwalk, ConnecticutNeighborhoods in ConnecticutPopulated coastal places in Connecticut
Rowayton aerial 7 26 22
Rowayton aerial 7 26 22

Rowayton is an affluent coastal village in the city of Norwalk, Connecticut, roughly 40 miles (64 km) from New York City. The community is governed by the Sixth Taxing District of Norwalk and has a number of active local associations, including the Civic Association, the Historical Society, the Rowayton Library, a Gardeners Club, and a Parents Exchange. Rowayton annually plays host to a Shakespearean production at Pinkney Park, produced by Shakespeare on the Sound, and also has an active community of artists, many of whom are associated with the Rowayton Arts Center. The Rowayton station on the New Haven line of the Metro-North Railroad is located within the community, as is an elementary school, a public beach and the Rowayton Public Library.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Rowayton, Connecticut (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Rowayton, Connecticut
Highland Avenue, Norwalk

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Wikipedia: Rowayton, ConnecticutContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 41.063888888889 ° E -73.436388888889 °
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Address

Highland Avenue 20
06853 Norwalk
Connecticut, United States
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Rowayton aerial 7 26 22
Rowayton aerial 7 26 22
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Frederick J. Smith House
Frederick J. Smith House

The Smith House is a work of contemporary architecture designed by Richard Meier, a well-known architect born in 1934 who led the avant-garde modern architecture movement of the 1960s. The Smith House was planned starting in 1965 and completed in 1967 in Darien, Connecticut, and overlooks the Long Island Sound from the Connecticut coast. The 2,800 square-foot home has been featured in numerous books and has won various prestigious awards.The back of the Smith House, which faces the water, has an open façade with three levels of glass enclosure, providing sweeping, waterfront views. "There is a formal layering, giving a sense of progression, as one moves across the site from the entrance road down to the shore, and the 'line of progression' determines the major site axis," Meier has written. "Perpendicular to this axis, the intersecting planes in the house respond to the rhythms of the slope, trees, rock outcroppings, and the shoreline." Shortly after the house was built, Fred and Carole Smith divorced. When Carole remarried, Meier was hired to expand the house. A 300 square-foot expansion was added to the master suite. The house was owned by the Smith’s sons, Chuck Smith & Hobie Smith. In 2022, the sons sold the house privately to Thomas Majewski, a longstanding resident of the neighborhood. To give some context to the architect, Richard Meier was born in 1934, and was one of the five leading avant-garde architects in the 1960s, along with Charles Gwathmey, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, and John Hejduk. The Fred I. Smith House was one of Meier’s first largely-recognized works and was part of a series of single-family homes that mark a first-step in Meier’s work. It won numerous prizes shortly following its construction. In 1968, one year after it was constructed, it won the AIA National Honor Award, the AIA New England Award, the AIANY Award, and the AIA National Award. Later, in 2000, it received yet another award, the Twenty-five Year Award from the American Institute of Architects.

Sheffield Island Light
Sheffield Island Light

Sheffield Island Light is a historic lighthouse located at the southern end of the Norwalk Islands in Norwalk, Connecticut. It marks the west side of the mouth of the Norwalk River on northern Long Island Sound. The island, at the time known as "White Island", was purchased by Captain Robert Sheffield in 1804 for $6000. In 1826 Gershom Smith, Sheffield's son in law, sold 4 of the island's 53 acres (21 ha) at the southwest point to the United States government for the purpose of building a lighthouse. Smith would serve as the first keeper for the light which was completed in 1828. At the time the island was known as Smith Island. The first light originally ran on oil. In 1857 the light was upgraded to a fourth-order Fresnel lens. The original 30 feet (9.1 m) tower was replaced by a Victorian style limestone (masonry) dwelling, with a 44 feet (13 m) high light tower in the gable, in 1868. The Fresnel lens from 1857 was moved into the new structure and with a focal plane 51 feet (16 m) above water it was visible for more than 12 miles (19 km). The lighthouse is of the same design as lighthouses at Great Captain Island and Morgan Point in Connecticut; Old Field Point Light and Plum Island in New York; and Block Island North in Rhode Island.Greens Ledge Light was built to the west of Sheffield in 1900 and was better located to warn ships of the rocks and shoals on the approach to Sheffield Island harbor and Norwalk harbor. Sheffield Island Light was then deactivated in 1902. Sheffield Island Lighthouse was put up for sale in 1914 and purchased by Thorsten O. Stabell. In 1986 the 118-year-old structure was purchased by the Norwalk Seaport Association for renovation and restoration. In 1989 the lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1993 an electric generator was added to the structure. In the fall of that year, a great storm flooded the basement of the building and artifacts were lost or destroyed. In 2002 the Seaport association started ferry service to the island, which is still running. In October 2011 the lighthouse was re-lit by a solar powered system installed to replace the gasoline generator system. The beacon is focused only on the Norwalk side and is not intended for use as navigation.

Manresa Island

Manresa Island is a former island located in Norwalk, Connecticut, at the mouth of Norwalk Harbor in the Long Island Sound. The earliest name for the landform was Boutons Island, which dates to 1664. By the 19th century, the island had been purchased by John H. Keyser, who lived there and cultivated rare vegetation. He built a causeway in 1860, connecting the island to the mainland of South Norwalk. This gave rise to the name Keyser Island, which was sold to the Jesuits toward the end of the century. On the island, the Jesuits established the Manresa Institute, which was the only dedicated retreat center in the United States. It hosted both prominent Catholic prelates as well as laymen, as part of a growing lay retreat movement in the United States. The institute was named for the Spanish town of Manresa, in which Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, wrote his Spiritual Exercises. In 1911, the Jesuits sold Keyser Island, which became known as Manresa Island in the mid-twentieth century. In the 1950s, Connecticut Light & Power constructed a coal-fired power plant on the land. Over the years, the company filled in much of the tidal flats surrounding the island with coal ash, greatly increasing the size of the island from its original 23 acres (9.3 hectares) to 144 acres (58 hectares), and leading to significant ground pollution. In 1972, the plant was converted to burn fuel oil, and an oil spill occurred, damaging the surrounding environment. The plant was sold to NRG Energy in 1999, and was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, leading to its permanent closure in 2013. A portion of the land today is an undeveloped and ecologically important marine habitat.