The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. LandVest / Contributed NEW HAVEN — Are you in the market for a 19th century mansion on 26 acres, with remnants of its farming history intact, only minutes from downtown?
You are in luck.
Known locally as the Townsend property, but formerly as the Raynham, Inc., the large expanse on the East Shore on Townsend Avenue is on the market for $2.25 million.
It is now part of a trust held by the five children of the late Hervey (Henry) Townshend and Doris (Deb) Townshend, who died on Aug. 28, 2020 at the age of 98.
Family members said they had hoped to sell the 16-room main home, two smaller bungalows and out buildings on the wooded and hay-covered acreage to a nonprofit. The 7,418-square-foot main house has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. LandVest / Contributed City officials and the Townshends said they were surprised when a proposed deal to sell it to the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut for its New Hytes educational program fell through.
“Everybody was more than a little surprised by them pulling out. Everybody – the Realtor, the city of New Haven, everybody…. ,” said Hervey Townshend, one of the siblings.
A message was left with Chris Shackelton, chairman of the board of the tennis foundation, seeking comment.
Alder Sal DeCola, D-18, whose district includes the estate, said he and Alder Jodie Ortiz, D-17, were impressed by the proposed use, where young people would be introduced to the game of tennis, but also offered academic help. The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. LandVest / Contributed DeCola said no one expressed any opposition to the proposal to either of them . He said the renovation figure was put at $600,000.
“We were embracing it. They were thinking of putting in trails, making a community garden. I have no email, no phone call from anybody complaining in this neighborhood, nor does Jodi,” DeCola said. The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. Landvest, Inc./ Contributed He said he and Ortiz and city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli met with a representative of New Hytes, to discuss the proposal. 26 acres
The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. LandVest / Contributed The property is on the National Register of Historic Places, which puts in line for certain state and federal grants and other protections.
Nancy Townshend-Vess, another sibling, said they felt the tennis education center would be a perfect use and a way to keep the property intact. Opening it up to the market expands the potential uses for the residentially zoned property. The house at 709 Townsend Ave, New Haven, Conn. Landvest, Inc./ Contributed “We are putting it on the market so the final use will be determined by the buyers. So it could be a nonprofit, it could be a for-profit, it could be housing. We are open,” said Realtor Joanna Dresser of Landvest, Inc.
There are five parcels for tax purposes […]
