The New Haven Preservation Trust

06/10/2026

Yale plans to demolish a vacant former rubber factory in the Hill that was once home to vibrant, illegal live-work artist studios -- prompting pushback from some neighbors who don't want to see the site turned into an 89-space surface parking lot.

06/01/2026

05/27/2026

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS: LECTURE
Four Centuries of Gathering on the New Haven Green
Saturday, June 27, 3:00 p.m.
Ives Main Branch Library, 133 Elm St, New Haven
As the original colonial "commons", the Green has long served the needs of citizens through a variety of uses. These have included civic buildings, houses of worship, lands for grazing, and even as a final resting place for the dead. Over the years, the Green has been the stage for parades, protests, road races, recitals, military musters, mattress derbies, speeches, and the Special Olympics. Some of this history, such as the auctions of enslaved people, challenge our perceptions of the Green as a place for civic good.
As a cultural landscape, New Haveners have shaped the Green as much as it has shaped them. This program will explore why these changes matter — and why this history is relevant to the future of the Green. This dialogue will be hosted by the New Haven Preservation Trust, the New Haven Museum, and the New Haven Free Public Library using a variety of archival materials.
Free; reservations are required. Space is limited. Find out more and sign up www.artidea.org/event/2026/5891

05/23/2026

2026 HISTORIC HOUSE TOUR – June 7, 2026
Tradition Reimagined: Douglas Orr and the Colonial Revival

• Tour six private homes from Lincoln Street to Prospect Hill
• Discover Douglas Orr’s distinctive take on the Colonial Revival home
• Conclude with a reception at the New Haven Lawn Club

Purchase tickets here https://nhpt.org/events

Regular Admission: $65
Next Generation (Under 30): $30 (Includes a complimentary one-year NHPT membership)

The 2026 Historic House Tour is presented with lead sponsorship from Farnam Realty Group and Industry Supporters, including Aurora Farewell Architects, Common Vision, and Knight Architecture. Organized in partnership with America 250 New Haven, the New Haven Museum, Preservation Connecticut, and the New Haven Lawn Club.

Douglas Orr (1892–1966) was a leading New Haven architect whose work helped define the city’s residential, civic, academic, and commercial landscape for nearly five decades. Trained at Yale, Orr built a reputation for thoughtful design, strong community ties, and stylistic versatility. Nationally respected, he served as president of the American Institute of Architects in 1947 and vice-chair of the commission overseeing the reconstruction of the White House during the Truman administration.

Pictured: Douglas Orr, Elizabeth Farnam House, 1934–35

05/19/2026

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS: GUIDED TOUR
Style and Power Demystified: Civic Architecture On And Around The New Haven Green
Sunday, June 28, 3:00 p.m.
Center Church on the Green, 250 Temple St, New Haven
The shape of government in New Haven has changed radically in its course from colonial theocracy to the post-industrial present. The collection of civic buildings facing onto the New Haven Green in our day tell only a portion of this history, but contribute in their varied and self-conscious styles to the joining of past and present which defines the Green as we know it. The confidence of monumental expressions, however, tends to belie the more fleeting factors of culture which produced them. Our historical inheritance in brick and mortar does not point to a single right or wrong way to live, but provides the invaluable and instructive proof that our history has always been one of change, and reinvention a constant of American identity. This tour will survey civic architecture on and around the New Haven Green from the 1600s to the present, with special focus on buildings that stand today.
Meet at Center Church on the Green
Free; reservations are required. Space is limited. Find out more and sign up here www.artidea.org/event/2026/5893

05/13/2026

Which do YOU prefer? The existing one or the newly proposed one?
Leave a comment!

05/12/2026

An architectural landmark of downtown New Haven, the historic Ralph Ingersoll House (143 Elm Street) is currently the subject of a demolition delay, which will expire on June 10th.

The house was built in 1829 to designs by the celebrated architects Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis. A superb example of Greek Revival residential architecture, it is one of only a handful of surviving residential works by two of the most important American architects of the early nineteenth century. It stands just a stone’s throw from Town’s most iconic New Haven buildings, Centre Church and Trinity Church on the Green, which were constructed between 1812 and 1816.

In 1919, Harriet Williams donated the house to Yale as a memorial to her son, Earl Trumbull Williams, of the class of 1910, who died in 1918. The building was renovated by Delano & Aldrich (architects of several other Yale buildings, including the Divinity School, William Harkness Hall, and Sterling Chemistry Laboratory) and became the home of the Yale University Press.
Yale now seeks to demolish the 1-story rear porch of the building and construct a 3-story glass and timber structure with elevator to serve as an accessible entrance. While the New Haven Preservation Trust supports the goal of making buildings more accessible, we are concerned by the proposed project’s disregard for the architectural significance of the rear porch, which all evidence suggests is an original feature of the house.

Beyond the loss of the historic porch, we find the proposed 3-story glass addition to be visually incompatible with the historic building (and the streetscape as a whole), in its scale, materials, and detailing. The addition would be visible from the Lower Green, and its glass facade would be a source of light pollution at night.

The building’s inclusion in the Elm Street State Historic District and Historic Resources Inventory triggered the demolition delay, issued by the City, to allow time to discuss alternatives. The NHPT has has urged Yale to seek an architectural solution that would provide accessibility while respecting the historic structure, however to date the university has not expressed an interest in exploring alternatives to their original proposal.

To voice your concerns, we encourage you to contact the University Architect, James Kolker: [email protected]