Above: The Phillip Johnson Glass House
Photo by Stacy Bass, courtesy of the Glass House
New Canaan was a parish, part of Norwalk and Stamford, until incorporated into a town in 1801.
The New Canaan Historical Townhouse, located at 13 Oenoke, was New Canaan’s first town hall.
New Canaan was a farming town until it expanded into a shoe making industry from 1826-1850.
The house located at 54 Main Street was previously a shoe factory.
After the railroad was built in 1868, New Yorkers began to summer here. A large hotel, The Birdsall House, stood in what is a large presently the Morse Court municipal parking lot.
Famous sculptor and resident John Rogers built The Rogers Studio in 1877. It was later moved to the New Canaan Historical Society grounds, where it still stands. People around the world still collect “Rogers Group” sculptures.
The Harvard 5 architects (Eliot Noyes, Marcel Breuer, John Johansen, Landis Gores, Philip Johnson) all lived in New Canaan during the 50s and 60s and were responsible for a movement in modern architecture that changed the world.
Gores Pavilion: Jens Risom, a furniture designer in the 50s and 60s, was from New Canaan. Some of his works are currently displayed in Gores Pavilion.
Waveny house was used for exterior shots for the fictional ‘Cortlandt Manor’ on the soap opera All My Children, and exteriors were used in the 2004 remake film The Stepford Wives.
Waveny House was built in 1914, but before that it was Prospect Farm estate, which had a polo field and a landing strip that accommodated small planes.
The YMCA of New Canaan was also once an airfield.
The thrift shop located at 2 Locust Avenue was formerly a morgue.
In The Cricket in Times Square main character Chester Cricket lives near New Canaan.
The Official Preppy Handbook makes reference to New Canaan as one of the “preppiest” towns in the country.
A replica of the oldest pharmacy in New Canaan, “New Canaan Pharmacy” sits on the Historical Society property.
Over the years, the following personalities have called New Canaan home: Harry Connick Jr., Ann Coulter, Ann Curry, Katherine Heigl, Philip Johnson, David Letterman, Mike Wallace and Brian Williams.