Kent sets spring deadline for Swift House strategy

KENT — Town officials are moving to decide the future of the long-vacant, town-owned Swift House, with the Board of Selectmen setting an April 30 deadline to identify a path forward for the historic building.

During a special meeting held by the BOS after a tour of the building early Saturday afternoon, Feb. 7, both of which were open to the public, First Selectman Eric Epstein proposed that the town establish an “investigation committee” that would review options for the structure, which has been on the tax roll for years without a clear plan.

The new committee’s mission statement is “to provide input and assistance to the Selectman in the redesign, redevelopment, updated construction and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades of the Swift House.” The committee is also charged with finding avenues to sell the building if the town decides to “dispose” of the property as a municipal building.

The 18th century landmark house — located prominently next to the four corners intersection of Route 7 and Route 341 in the center of town — effectively “closed” during the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened, though the Kent Chamber of Commerce has used several rooms for storage since. Prior to the closure, the Chamber held an office in the building, and before that the Kent Historical Society was based there before moving out in 2013. The building was a meeting place for the community and civic groups after it was restored in the 1970s, and has also had sections used as residential apartments.

The tight April 30 deadline is intended to ensure a strategy is in place in time for budget line adjustments in May, Epstein explained. The new committee, which was voted through unanimously, will include selectman Lynn Harrington, a member of the Board of Finance, and five members of the public appointed by the BOS.

Harrington emphasized that the new committee will take its responsibilities seriously. She said the findings will “have to be concrete… with facts and force behind them.”

Matt Starr, a Kent resident, was present for both the tour and subsequent meeting. At Town Hall, he said he was grateful to Kent’s leadership for inviting the public – literally – into the buildingas it works towards a solution, but that he has grown weary of the uncertainty. “There’s no plan but we’re being taxed on it,” he said.

During the 2025 round of the state’s Small Town Economic Assistance Program grants, commonly known by the acronym STEAP, the town applied for $1 million in funding to convert the first floor into several wings that would house the Social Services Department, the food pantry and event spaces, but was denied the funding.

The current draft Five Year Capital Plan includes $425,000 for rehabilitation of the Swift House, a figure that will be subject to change based on the committee’s recommendations. Voters will consider the capital plan at the May town meeting.

The Swift House, once a small wood-frame dwelling, was expanded several times between the mid 18th and 19th centuries and renovated in the 1970s. Alec Linden

For some, preservation is paramount

Chris Adams, new chair of the Kent Historical Society, and Marge Smith, curator for the Society, also joined the two part meeting. Both emphasized that their top priority for the building is to place a preservation easement on the deed that would prevent it from being demolished, even if it were sold. To do this, the two indicated that a strong first step toward that goal is to get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which the Society is actively pursuing.

The Swift House was visited in April 2024 by officers from the State Historic Preservation Office, commonly known as SHPO. Following the visit, SHPO endorsed the effort:

“This property is an integral part of the historic center of the town of Kent and exhibits architectural quality that contributes to Connecticut’s rich historic landscape,” reads a September 2024 letter from Jenny Scofield, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer.

Smith led the tour of the house, attended by the selectmen and eight or so members of the public, in which she highlighted the building’s unique construction.

Hunched over in the dusty, cramped cellar, she told attendees, “This is the oldest part of the building,” pointing to original stonework on the walls. “It’s a great example of early Yankee frugality,” she said, noting that subsequent owners used structurally sound components already there when imagining their own constructions.

Even today, “it has good bones,” Smith said. Career contractor and Planning and Zoning Commission member Chris Harrington, who attended the tour, affirmed that the chestnut timber frames supporting the roof are “in excellent shape.”

After the tour, Smith shared that while a place on the National Register will help the town find grant funding for renovations, there may be other ways to finance construction.

The original structure on the site was an 18- by 20-foot dwelling built by Jabez Swift, who moved to Kent in 1746 with his family. He had a brother, Nathaniel, who lived and is buried in nearby Warren and would have certainly visited the Swift House, Smith explained.

Nathaniel has a very prominent descendant, who Smith and Adams upheld is a noted preservationist: singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.

Swift is his great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, and the two said that while far from a guarantee, they are hopeful that the family may take interest in the preservation project if they can be reached.

Aside from the popstar, another member of the Swift family is already invested in the building’s continued existence. Elizabeth Swift, originally from Lakeville and now living in Warren, is a direct descendent of Jabez and his son Heman, a prominent colonel in the Revolutionary War who grew up in the Swift House.

She attended both the tour and following meeting at town hall, saying she hadn’t been inside the ancestral home in many years.

“I’d love to see it preserved,” Swift said. “Our country doesn’t appreciate history enough.”