Sale to Danbury

In 1983, Danbury and the C.D. Parks heirs had agreed on a purchase price of $4.7 million for the Parks' property, including Tarrywile mansion and the dairy farm as well as Hearthstone. 

The initiative to purchase the Parks' property began as an effort to prevent a developer to come in and turn the land into condominiums. Supporters also argued that the expansive property would serve the rapidly growing community of Danbury very well in the future.

On April 30, 1985, voters approved the purchase of the C.D. Parks property, including Tarrywile Mansion, the dairy farm, and Hearthstone Castle. It was thought to be a record turnout to the vote, and it passed with 4,675 votes to acquire it, and 2,416 votes against it.

Right after the vote, Mayor Dyer appointed a task force to oversee the aqcuisition and maintence of the property. Already there was disagreement over the matter, as only one person out of the ten appointed supported the purchase. 

The "Parks Property Purchase Committee," a citizens' group who supported the purchase from the beginning, objected loudly to Dyer's task force choices and believed that many of their members should be on the staff. 

From this exerpt it is clear how high tensions were regarding the castle debate. David Coelho, chairman of the Parks Purchase Committee, is obviously frustrated in this letter to the editor, lamenting the fact that even though a task force had been formed to address the maintenance of the castle, it had been a number of months and the group had not met once. He is so frustrated that he even sarcastically uses a quote from the mayor himself, noting that since the National Register of Historic Places had approved the castle, they did not believe it would "make a nice fieldstone wall," as the mayor joked earlier.