1772 Foundation Grant Awarded For deKoven House Exterior Maintenance

MIDDLETOWN, CT - The Rockfall Foundation recently received a matching grant of

$10,700 to support exterior maintenance of the historic, 18^th century deKoven House Community Center located at 27 Washington Street, Middletown. The grant was awarded by the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and will allow for painting, wood repair, and chimney repointing.

Bequeathed to the Foundation by the organization’s founder, Clarence S. Wadsworth, the deKoven House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Captain Benjamin Williams House. The brick Georgian mansion was built between 1791 and 1797 and is just yards from the banks of the Connecticut River.  Previously renovated with architectural work by Jeffrey Dale Bianco, AIA, the current exterior project is part of a long-range plan to care for the building.  

“One of the Rockfall Foundation’s main responsibilities is stewardship of the deKoven House,” said Robin Andreoli, the Foundation’s executive director. “In addition to the Foundation, its offices are occupied by several groups whose missions are concerned with natural resource education, research, and conservation in the Lower Connecticut River Valley.”

Since 1942, the Rockfall Foundation has provided subsidized, low-cost office space in the deKoven House to a variety of nonprofit environmental and educational organizations. Current resident organizations include the Middlesex Land Trust, Connecticut River Conservancy, Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, Mattabeseck Audubon Society, Connecticut Land Conservation Council, Artists for World Peace, Connecticut Center for Spiritual Living, and the Connecticut Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commission. Two meeting rooms are also available to community groups for use and host more than 150 gatherings per year.

The Rockfall Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation that supports environmental education, conservation programs and planning initiatives in the Lower Connecticut River Valley. Established in 1935, it is one of Connecticut’s oldest environmental organizations. The Foundation annually awards environmental grants to other non-profits and sponsors education programs and symposia.

For additional information, please call 860-347-0340 or visit

www.rockfallfoundation.org.

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