Young intern explores old Ives house, August 26, 1985

Linda Warren of Simsbury researched Charles Ives' birthplace through a program for New England college students to spend summers working on projects that would help to preserve the region's heritage. She was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Environmental Design program and attended Rice University's School of Architecture in 1985. The Charles Ives house was owned by the Danbury Scott-Fanton Museum and Historical Society. The house was 200 years old in 1985 and Warren urged for restoration and conservation. The original construction of the house is dated at 1784 and was built by farmer and carpenter Joshua Knapp. It was first owned was New York silversmith Thomas Tucker. He used the home as a private school where he taught both boys and girls. The house was purchased by the Ives family in 1829. Noted visitors include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Woodrow Wilson. The first time the house was moved was by Charles Ives in 1924. In 1966 the house was donated to the Scott-Fanton Museum by the Fairfield County Trust. The museum moved the house to Rogers Park where they hoped to assemble a small museum village of old Danbury but the plans never came to fruition. |Identifier: ms069_devlin_1985_08_26