cover photo by Venera Alexandrova
Jill Lukeman was sitting in her New York City apartment, browsing Zillow, when her mouse scrolled over a tiny beach cottage in a town she had never heard of and couldn’t pronounce.
It was a modest house, one prone to flooding with a small yard and no garage—drawbacks that lost their weight against the idyllic white picket fence and the trellis overtaken by white and pink roses. She called her agent to schedule a tour.
When they drove into the town, just an hour outside of the City, Jill thought, “Maybe I’m not ready for the suburbs. Maybe this will be boring.” She was pursuing a degree at Columbia Business School, working at Airbnb—living a version of city life that was fun, social and artistic. But, she wanted an escape. A place to spend weekends and summers to get away from the bustle of city life.
They drove into Rowayton on June 2, 2018. The weather was sunny and an even 70 degrees. As they headed to the house, they lost service and drove around in circles in an attempt to find this cute little house on South Beach—a blessing considering every wrong turn took them to a scene that was more picturesque than the one before it.
When they found the house, Jill stepped in, first taking in the salty smell of the Long Island Sound coming through the sliding glass doors. She sat on the porch swing, listening to live music coming from Porch Jam—the annual music festival in Rowayton where bands play on local porches while residents and out-of-towners walk the town to hang out with friends and listen.
Jill couldn’t quiet her instinct. What is this place? she thought.
After the tour, they headed to Rowayton Seafood, arguably the town’s signature restaurant. They sat waterfront, among docked boats and paddle boarders. “That was it,” Jill said to her realtor and a friend over Bloody Marys and lobster rolls.
“You should see different houses, do more research,” her realtor rebutted. But Jill was adamant—a true truster of her own instincts. By the time lunch was over, the offer on the house was in.
Looking back, Jill reflects on what it was that drew her to this small, Connecticut beach town. She’s originally from a small town in Ohio where there was a strong sense of community—something she sensed immediately in Rowayton.
“I felt like there was something really special here,” she says. “You’re a stone’s throw away from the city, but it feels otherworldly in some ways. I also love the density. Most people don’t want neighbors who can look into their windows…but for me, that was the charm.”
ARTIST’S ENCLAVE
Dre Loomis Towey has lived in Rowayton for over 20 years. In fact, she’s the woman who brought Porch Jam—the music festival that helped win Jill over—to Rowayton. “My sister lives in Sarasota and they have something called Porchfest,” says Dre. “She suggested I do it in Rowayton since it’s so biker- and walker-friendly.”
Dre is the founder and creative director of Junior Art and Music (JAM), a Norwalk-based nonprofit that provides music and art workshops to underserved kids. She started JAM in 2017, followed quickly by Porch Jam, the fundraising event that supports it.
In the first year, Porch Jam started with 12 bands, which turned to 16, and continues to grow, this year hosting 30 bands. In fact, the event has grown so much since its beginning that Dre expects 3,000 attendees this year—some of whom are actually flying in for the event.
“Rowayton is the perfect template for Porch Jam,” Dre says. “It’s walkable, there are tons of porches, which are a natural stage for artists.”
What Dre finds most special about Rowayton is the fact that it is a small, oyster village that is still part of a larger city. “I love the quaintness of it, but also love the edge of it—that it is part of a bigger city and that comes with diversity and the opportunity to be part of both a smaller community and a larger one,” she says. “Rowayton is a creative hub, a beautiful area that artists are attracted to, similar to Provincetown in the Cape and Key West in Florida.”
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
Most people think that, until recently, Rowayton has been a close-knit, sleepy town that sits on a picturesque corner of the Long Island Sound—but the town has always been a social, bustling place.
Paul Seymour, board member of the Rowayton Civic Association and chair of the Music Committee, echoes this.
“The Outdoor Concert Series has been around since the late ’80s, when they had local bands come play down at the beach,” he says. “It brings the whole community to the beach or park to hang out and have a good time, with no agenda.”
Paul’s been in the music business since 1983, so it’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about running a concert series. As the series has gotten bigger, it has attracted bigger talent and can draw crowds of 300 to 500 families to the beach on Sundays in the summertime.
This year’s lineup includes a local act called Funk Your Face, along with Phillip-Michael Scales, nephew of B.B. King, and a few more acts Paul isn’t quite allowed to disclose yet.
But that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the community events that thread Rowayton residents together. The RCA hosts different events throughout the year, including Light Up Rowayton (the annual holiday event complete with a hot cocoa competition and an appearance from Santa himself), to the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, fireworks on the 4th of July, and Comedy Night where New York-level comedians give the town a night of teary-eyed laughs.
“These events allow the youngsters, the teenagers, the new guys in town, and the old souls of Rowayton to just come together and get to know each other a bit more,” Paul says. “It’s as simple as that.”
THE ADVENT OF ARDEN’S
At the start of the pandemic, when New York City shut down and Jill was pregnant with her son, she decided to sell her New York City apartment and move to Rowayton full-time. At that point, she had a business degree under her belt and dreamed of opening a juice bar and coffee shop in town as a side hustle while she continued her career at Airbnb. She was going to call it “Squeeze the Day.”
She shared her idea with friends she had met in town, all of whom suggested she reach out to Laura Jayson, her neighbor, who was a creative consultant with a rich skillset in the food space.
Jill sent Laura an “awkward” email, inviting her for a walk to get her perspective (and eventually her partnership) on the project. “Laura’s family grew up in Rowayton,” Jill said. “I didn’t want to come in and create something not contextual to the area, so Laura’s perspective is what made it travel-influenced, but Rowayton in intention.”
The juice bar/coffee shop idea was budding—alongside Jill and Laura’s friendship. In the spirit of wanting the space to honor what Rowayton was about, Jill started looking into the history of the little oyster village.
Through email exchanges with the Rowayton Historical Society, diving into books like Rowayton on the Half Shell, and conversations with local historian, Lisa Grant, Jill learned that Rowayton actually had a decadent history.
In fact, in the late 1800s, Rowayton was home to Roton Point Amusement Park, a summer destination that welcomed 12,000 visitors a day and was home of the Tango Dip, a rollercoaster that almost took on a second life as the chosen name of Jill and Laura’s project.
Jill is almost out of breath as she excitedly rattles off the nuggets of history she learned about Rowayton in her research. Like how Amelia Earhart’s husband, George Palmer Putnam, who summered on Rowayton Avenue, established its post office, train station, and the name “Rowayton” itself (the neighborhood had always been called Five Mile River).
Or how, in 1916, Josephine Craw, wife of a Rowayton oysterman, opened a camp for girls to teach them wireless telegraphy and eventually aviation, flying biplanes from the top of Craw Hill down to the beach.
But it was this next historical discovery that affirmed for Jill that her gut instinct was right. In the 1920s, entrepreneur Neville Bayley took ownership of the amusement park, expanding it with more rides and other attractions.
One of the most popular was the live music venue that attracted nationally known acts including Duke Ellington and Glen Miller. But it was when Jill read the following name that her heart skipped a beat: Victor Arden.
Victor Arden was an orchestra leader and pianist. Victor Arden was Jill’s great grandfather. Arden was his stage name, the same name Jill’s parents passed down to her as her middle name.
That connection back to this town affirmed Jill’s gut feeling —that “this is it” feeling she felt when she first stepped inside that beach cottage she found on Zillow that night in 2018.
“So, I named the place Arden’s,” she said.
FIVE-MILE MAGNETISM
Arden’s opened in 2022 and has helped breathe new life into the town. But the catalyst to the newfound vibrancy in Rowayton seems to be one of the few positives to come from the pandemic.
Andrew Meyerson, commissioner of the 6th taxing district, has lived in Rowayton for 25 years when it had a “sleepy little fishing village feel.” In that time, he’s seen new buildings and businesses pop up gradually, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that he saw the “biggest turnover of people.”
Local realtor, Peter Stuart, echoed that insight. During the pandemic, the Rowayton real estate market became insanely competitive, particularly among two groups: cool, young couples from Brooklyn and New York City who wanted more space in a town that was still walkable and social, and older people from neighboring towns like New Canaan and Darien who were ready to downsize or live a more laid-back lifestyle.
“Every home was snatched up and made to be more beautiful,” he says. “06853 is now more like 90210.”
Commissioner Andrew adds that while the town has become younger, it also has become more affluent. In fact, the taxing district showed that home values went up 35 to 70% in the last five years.
“When I moved here, it was changing, but still a sleepy little village,” he said. “Now, you have to make a certain amount of money to live here.”
It’s true, Rowayton is a special little part of the world. Not because of its history, affluence or scenery. It’s because, one way or another, it’s become a place in which two opposing things can be true.
It’s a little beach town that’s still part of a big, bustling city. It’s a town that experienced major turnover in the last five years but still holds onto a rich history. It’s a sleepy town with plenty to do. A wealthy town, home to plenty of artists and creatives. A place where fisherman and financiers coexist, seemingly unaware of their differences.
Rowayton is a living juxtaposition.
While the pandemic was a catalyst for significant change in Rowayton, one thing has stayed consistent—the unwavering sense of community.
On a random weekday afternoon at Arden’s, I sat at a table, cleaning up my notes for this piece while sipping on a matcha. I look up sporadically, admiring the details of the space that were so meticulously curated by Jill and Laura to represent all that Rowayton is.
And it’s all there—even outside of the roman plastered walls and the pendant lights that look more like oversized beach hats than lighting fixtures. A mom sits at a table, rocking the stroller that holds her newborn while sipping on an iced latte. Across from her is a couple , seemingly in their 70s, who stopped in for a quick lunch after walking “the loop” around town.
It’s in this small, seemingly uneventful moment, where the spirit of Rowayton comes to life.