SHARON — The turning of the dirt signaled the hope for four families to find their dream of affordable housing.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Sept. 29 at the former Community Center on Gay Street (Route 41) where the Sharon Housing Trust is planning to place four affordable units. Dignitaries, including Commissioner of Housing Selia Mosquera-Bruno, were in attendance, along with many Sharon residents and members of affordable housing organizations from around the region.
Richard Baumann, chairman of the trust, began by explaining the trust already owns three buildings contiguous to the center, each containing two affordable apartments.
“The former owner kept them affordable and we’re building on that,” he said, emphasizing the generosity of so many people. “He sold them to us below market value and then took the mortgage. We still had a shortfall of $100,000 and an anonymous person gave us a bridge loan that we were later able to pay back.” Several times Baumann talked about the remarkable way in which this is all coming together.
The building was the former Masonic temple, which is owned by the town. It has leased it to the trust for 99 years.
“The next remarkable thing was that the town applied for a $1 million grant from the state and didn’t get it,” he said. “We rolled the projects together (rehabbing the center and upgrading the six apartments) and the state doubled our money. We now have $2 million to do them.”
He then introduced Sharon resident Lyden Miller, a world-renowned landscape designer, who will donate her expertise in creating the look of the grounds.
First Selectman Casey Flanagan, looking up at the structure, said it has served the community for nearly 100 years and now will continue to do so in a different form.
“Sharon is a town that values its character, its history and most importantly its people,” he said. “We recognize that for our community to thrive, we must ensure that families, seniors and young professionals can afford to live here. Whether it’s through renovation of existing properties thoughtful development or creative use of town-owned land, we’re committed to solutions that preserve Sharon’s charm while making it more accessible to those who want to call it home.”
He said this project is a creative solution that reflects both fiscal responsibility and compassion.
State Rep. Maria Horn, D-64, said, “I get such pleasure out of the frequency of these groundbreakings.”
Mosquera-Bruno, after some ribbing from Baumann, promised she’d try to expedite the funding.
“Congratulations to this milestone and we thank the governor and legislature for their support of housing,” said Mosquero-Bruno. “The reality is we’re putting more shovels in the ground than ever before.”
Following the ceremony, the annual Housing Summit, sponsored by Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity was held next door at Sharon Center School. Affordable housing organizations manned booths on the school grounds, showcasing their projects in great detail.
Those attending the annual Housing Summit in Sharon view the displays of affordable housing organizations around the county. Ruth Epstien
The program then moved indoors where Jocelyn Ayer, director of LCCHO, addressed the crowd and said they are working on 18 projects in 12 towns. Water bottles with the slogan “Put US back in housing” were distributed.
Mosquera-Bruno gave statistics about all the affordable units that have, or are going up, around the state. Nandini Natarnjan, CEO of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, who works closely with the commissioner, said solutions to housing have to fit the size and scale of the people and towns here.
“Home ownership is a dream for so many,” she said. “Our purpose is not just about giving mortgages, but sustaining civic life. It’s about creating futures for the young and older populations.”
Horn spoke about housing on a personal level, saying “Some people we know and love are getting bounced out of their homes. They are intricate pieces of our community and it’s important to remember them.”
The dialogue than shifted to House Bill 5002with Horn expressing her disappointment that it was vetoed by Gov. Ned Lamont. The bill aimed to implement reforms to make it easier for affordable housing initiatives. Horn and others see this as a setback and she hopes there will be a special session of the legislature to address the matter.
An informal survey on the most engaging display by an affordable housing group and the most informative was held. Norfolk captured the first and Salisbury the second.
Marina Kotchoubey at the Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers showroom in West Cornwall.
Sometime in the mid-2010s, with grandkids accumulating, he started to picture a future away from the shop. It was getting time to step away and enjoy what he insists is one of the most beautiful parts of the world: the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. But just because he was aging out of the job didn’t mean his employees needed to as well.
Ingersoll recognized the home he’d built for these creative experts — a place where they, too, could make their livings building masterworks of fine furniture. So, for his next big challenge, he began the search for someone he could trust to take what he’d made and build it even better. After searching for quite some time, he decided to look next door.
Technically, Marina Kotchoubey grew up in Manhattan but she spent weekends and summers in Cornwall, Connecticut, feeling more at home amongst the woods and rivers of Litchfield County than in the subways of the city. But business opportunities kept her away from making her permanent home in the region.
After college, Kotchoubey moved to Paris to run the U.S. branch of children’s fashion brand Petit Bateau. At the young age of 23, it was a job she wasn’t ready for. But that’s where Kotchoubey finds her creative challenges.
By pairing the experience of her peers and coworkers with her razor-sharp intuition, Kotchoubey ran the brand with seamless expertise despite her lack of experience. She jumped into the deep end of the pool and challenged herself to swim. For seven years, she swam like an Olympian.
After her time in France, she felt ready to finally make a home in Cornwall. With no career or even job lined up, she approached several local businesses around the Northwest Corner and offered to help out in a consulting capacity. After years of challenging conditions in the deep end, this seemed like calm, shallow waters. And that’s when her neighbor, Ian Ingersoll, approached her.
At first, he was looking for a little help with business issues. Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers was doing well, but a younger customer base of homeowners and interior designers weren’t as keen on classic Shaker furniture. Though the studio had already started to diversify their offerings, Kotchoubey was instrumental in implementing a smooth transition to other styles of furniture. Ingersoll saw that, thanks to her breadth of experience and enterprising vision, she could take the baton and run with it.
In 2025, he handed her the keys.
When she took the reins, Kotchoubey saw two new ways forward. She could shake things up and pivot the shop toward installations and on-site custom builds. This would require new equipment, new clients and possibly new craftsmen. The other path leaned into what she had already helped the company do: expand its offerings and cater to a new, less traditionally minded clientele.
With confidence in her craftsmen and the reputation their work has garnered, she resisted the urge to pivot and instead relied on what makes Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers great — high-quality furniture made by expert craftsmen.
The journey isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. There are great challenges that come with being a young woman in an older man’s world. Firstly, she had to win the respect of her employees, despite not sharing in their skills and know-how. She accomplished that, once again, by listening to the experts and not forcing her vision on a remarkably capable group. The woodworking side of things might be new, but her ability to swim in unknown waters has proven unflappable throughout her career.
Now in its sixth decade of operations, Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers shows no sign of slowing down. Kotchoubey’s leadership is finding new customers by expanding on the reputation of the work. With increasing demand and a steadfast commitment to slow, quality jobs, don’t expect to pop into their West Cornwall showroom and leave with a piece anytime soon. Lead times on custom creations range from 12 to 16 weeks, but if things keep going the way they are, that wait could get even longer.
To see some of the company’s offerings, visit ianingersoll.com.
Marina Kotchoubey at the Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers.Photo by D.H. Callahan
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