The house in the 1950s. Note the Old Wilton School #1 in background behind vintage station wagon.
HOME WRITTEN BY JOHN R. GREENWOOD | PHOTOS PROVIDED BY LAURIE WESTCOTT UNLESS NOTED
Prior to 1953. Notice the wallpaper border running along the top of the wall. The wall to the right of the television had two overhead doors added and is now the front of the garage.
Prior to 1953. The Westcotts' garden in the foreground; the strawberries still come up every year.
Smaller house (current garage) the Westcotts lived in while building the main house in 1953. Note palletized stacks of lumber on the left used to build the main house.
I have always been sentimental about the roof over my head, regardless of where it was.
the Westcotts purchased a set of plans and a mountainous stockpile of lumber. First, they constructed a small building, which they lived in before building the larger house in 1953. After moving into the main home, they converted the original building into a two-car garage.
That sentimentality has always included the community and people within it. Even after we were married, my wife and I remained within a few miles of where we grew up. Whether it was Saratoga Springs, Greenfield Center, or Wilton, we have always embraced that sense of 'place.' While others dream of moving south to avoid a thermometer drop and snow shovel, I relish in the feeling that I am right where I belong. That feeling leads me to the soul of this story.
A few years ago, the Westcotts’ daughter Laurie contacted me and shared some of her fondest memories of growing up here. When her mother passed in June 2019, Laurie and I had an opportunity to reminisce about her parents and the home they had built. We began to share stories and photographs of the property. I had recently retired and become more involved in local historical societies. Knowing Lorraine Westcott had served several years as Wilton Town Historian only increased my desire to learn more about the property. I discovered that the Wilton School #1 once stood just north of our home.
We bought our current home on Northern Pines Rd. from Lorraine and Hubert Westcott in 1981. In the early 1950s, 136 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | SPRING H&G 2021
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