STRICKLAND ROAD
LOCAL HISTORIC DISTRICT
Protected : 1978
General description
The Strickland Road Historic District is a small residential area in the Cos Cob section of the Town of Greenwich. Strickland Road was laid out from the Post Road to Cos Cob Harbor at least by the early eighteenth century. The path and width of this road to the Lower Landings as the area was called at that time, has not changed. Major changes have taken place outside the Strickland Road Historic District boundaries. These include the construction of Interstate 95, particularly the elevated section of the approach to the Mianus Bridge immediately south of the district. An eighteenth-century millpond created by a tidal dam at the mouth of Strickland Brook on the west side of Cos Cob Harbor still exists. The post-World War II housing development on Mill Pond Court, included in the local historic district but not the National Register District, is located adjacent to this pond on the east side of Strickland Road. Although the Strickland Road Historic District is primarily residential today, historically its buildings have also been used for commercial purposes on a limited basis. The main building on this property is the Bush-Holley House; a Dutch Colonial built about 1740 and is the Town’s only National Historic Landmark.
Significance of the district
The Strickland Road Historic District is architecturally significant as a small cohesive, residential community distinguished by its architectural variety and excellent state of preservation. It reflects the historical development of the Village of Cos Cob in the Town of Greenwich from 1740 to 1934. Distinguished by its variety of styles, forms, and siting, and enhanced by its excellent level of preservation, the Strickland Road Historic District during its 200-year history reflects the changing patterns of residential development common to the Northeast. Despite this aesthetically pleasing diversity, the district is cohesive, tied together by its predominantly residential historic function, and limited by its size. The millpond adds a rural charm to the area, having not only confined development there, but also defines a contiguous, readily identifiable historic residential community. Its rural residential quality is enhanced by the winding pattern of Strickland Road, which is shaded by mature trees, and the proximity of some of the older houses to the road.