The most beautiful school in the state: HVRHS

FALLS VILLAGE — The iconic design magazine Architectural Digest has released its list of the most beautiful public high schools in America, with one choice for each of the 50 states. In Connecticut, that choice is Housatonic Valley Regional High School (HVRHS). 

“Designed by architect Ernest Sibley in the Georgian Revival style, this regional high school opened in 1939,” according to the text accompanying the photo in the listing, which was posted online on Sept. 12. “The 21st century has seen a number of additions and renovations to the campus.”

One of those renovations is ongoing now and is expected to be completed in just a few more weeks. 

Not mentioned in the text is the loving care given to landscaping around the Falls Village campus, much of it done under the guidance of  the school’s Arboretum and Landscape Committee, which was founded in 2004 by HVRHS alumni and former teachers including Ron Dower, Ellery “Woods” Sinclair, Phil Hart, Tom Zetterstrom and David Moran. Also on the committee now are John Luning, Bunny McGuire, Pauline Moore and Kevin Wheeler. 

Zetterstrom (Class of 1963) has been particularly active in helping to eliminate invasive species on the 75-acre property, which includes football fields, a running trail and tennis courts. The property runs along the Housatonic River at the border between Falls Village and Salisbury. Joining Zetterstrom in the invasive fight is a more recent graduate, Christian Allyn, Class of 2013. 

Both alums have also worked extensively with Moran, who has created a teaching arboretum on the campus. 

“What I admire about the design and construction of HVRHS is reflected in the arch above the main entrance,” Zetterstrom commented when he heard about the Architectural Digest honor. 

“It speaks to the citizens of the area who had a vision of cooperation and community, in the depression years of the 1930s, as Fascism was raising its ugly head in Europe.”

HVRHS was the first regional school district in the state and one of the first in the country (which is why it is known as the Region One School District). The shared high school serves students from the towns of North Canaan, Falls Village, Cornwall, Sharon, Salisbury and Kent. Previously, each town had its own small high school. 

Each town also had multiple elementary schools, a system developed at a time when travel was difficult, especially in winter. 

Over the years, those small elementary schools were consolidated into a single school for each town (which is why so many of them are known as the center school or the central school, such as Salisbury Central, Sharon Center and Cornwall Consolidated).

Falls Village was selected as the location for the school because of its relatively central location. The property was once a farm (owned by the Lorch family), with a notable large white oak tree in the center of the property. That tree remained on the campus until it collapsed in 2004.  

Zetterstrom said the choice of location symbolizes much of what is best about the regional school: natural beauty and cohesiveness as a community.

“They selected a gorgeous farm on the banks of the Housatonic River, understanding, no doubt, that the Housatonic was the spine of the five towns,” he said. 

This year, there are 387 students enrolled at the high school.