A Greenwich nonprofit is pushing to protect five historic properties across town, ranging from an 1840 sea captain's home to the town's second-oldest cemetery.

Jacqueline Wetenhall, executive director of Historic Properties of Greenwich (HPG), and co-founder Elise Hillman Green outlined the full pipeline at a Sept. 23 presentation to the Retired Men's Association of Greenwich, as reported by the Greenwich Sentinel.

The most time-sensitive item is a proposal to add Cos Cob Mill Pond Park, a 1.21-acre town-owned parcel at 0 Strickland Road, to the Strickland Road Local Historic District. The parcel holds Greenwich's second-oldest cemetery. The item appeared on the Representative Town Meeting's Sept. 28 agenda, according to Patch, but whether the RTM voted that night or deferred the matter is unclear.

Adding the parcel would complete an effort that began in 1968, when residents first petitioned the town to designate the area as a historic site. The Strickland Road Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990 and includes the Bush-Holley House, Greenwich's only National Historic Landmark, according to the Greenwich Historical Society.

Three of the five pipeline properties are turn-of-the-century houses.

Among them is the William B. Tubby Jr. House at 352 North Street, a two-and-a-half-story home completed in 1918. Architect William B. Tubby designed it for his son on a roughly 2.2-acre lot in the area known as Electric Hill. Tubby also designed the first Greenwich Hospital and Dunnellen Hall, according to Patch. Owners Marjorie R. Smith and Guy L. Smith IV, who acquired the property in 1984, are partnering with HPG on the designation.

Green said in August that the Tubby house's oversized lot makes it vulnerable to redevelopment, and that HPG is partnering with the owners to seek a local historic property designation that would protect the house permanently.

Another pipeline property is a Colonial Revival house whose owner of 31 years wrote to the Historic District Commission (HDC) that four houses on the street had been demolished during that time. The owner's name and street were not disclosed.

The fifth property is the Captain Charles Hendrie House at 299 Riverside Ave., an 1840 Greek Revival home that HPG has purchased outright. The sea captain's former residence once sat on 80 acres before the railroad split the property in 1848. It now occupies 0.67 acres. As we reported in July, Wetenhall asked the Board of Selectmen to appoint the HDC as a study committee for the house. HPG's website lists the Hendrie House with a projected protection date of 2027.

HPG was founded in 2019 after the demolition of the 1840s Benjamin Mead house on Clapboard Ridge Road. Co-founder Russ Reynolds, whose family had owned the home, urged Green and fellow co-founder Anne Young to act. "If you care this much about this, you should do something about it," Reynolds told them.

Greenwich now has three local historic districts and eight standalone historic properties, covering about 60 properties total. The designation process runs roughly a year and involves six steps, ending with an RTM vote. Under a local designation, owners can make any interior changes they want. Exterior alterations require a certificate of appropriateness from the HDC.

Green told the RMA audience that honorary recognitions like historical society plaques or National Register listings carry no legal protection against demolition. A local designation, by contrast, prevents subdivision and deters developers.

The next full RTM meeting is Monday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m.