Hamden Hall Country Day School has acquired the historic Davis Street castle in Hamden.
The private K-12 school acquired the 3.4-acre property at 20 Davis Street for $1.75 million and announced it would undertake a multi-million renovation of the property for use by the school. Plans for the renovation were green-lighted last month by the Hamden Planning & Zoning Commission.
Once renovations are completed, the 18,000-square-foot castle-like structure, built in 1906 and known as “Lucerne,” will house Hamden Hall’s preschool through Grade 6 elementary program.
No part of the exterior of the castle will be altered, the school said. Three modest additions will be built and additional site improvements include dedicated play areas and play elements, along with a natural grass multi-purpose recreational field.
“At the start of the 2018-2019 school year, I encouraged our administration, faculty and staff to dream big, and I’m pleased to announce that a particular long-term vision of ours is now coming to fruition. We have purchased 20 Davis Street, and I believe this ‘dream’ will have a multi-dimensional impact on our school and the local community,” said Hamden Hall Head of School Bob Izzo in an announcement.
Situated across the street from the school’s main campus on Whitney Avenue, the property overlooks Lake Whitney. Just as Hamden Hall’s main campus formerly housed the Pinehurst mansion, which was built by the late Morris Steinert of piano company and New Haven Symphony Orchestra fame, the Davis Street castle likewise has a storied history.
Mansion for a mogul
Designed by architects Brown and Von Beren, the castle was built for Frederick D. Grave, a German immigrant who arrived in America in 1861. After learning the cigar trade, Grave in 1884 founded his own cigar company, F.D. Grave & Son, in New Haven. The company is still in existence today.
Two of Grave’s great-grandchildren are Hamden Hall alumni, Fred Grave IV (Class of 1972) and Dorothy Grave Hoyt (Class of 1979), as was their mother, Dorothy Solakian Grave (Class of 1944).
In 1960, prominent architect Eero Saarinen, who had just joined the faculty of the Yale School of Architecture, purchased the property from the Grave family. He remodeled the castle and built the rear additions so it could be used for his new office.
It was not to be: Saarinen died in 1961 at age 51 and never occupied the building he had painstakingly transformed.
Following Saarinen’s death his associates — Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, who had relocated with Saarinen from Michigan — completed many of the signature projects that the Saarinen firm had begun — notably St. Louis’ Gateway Arch and Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.
From the early 1960s until now, the property served as offices for Kevin Roche & John Dinkeloo Associates. The surviving principal of the firm, Kevin Roche, died March 1 at the age of 96. The firm will vacate the property by late 2019. Both the Roche and Dinkeloo families have children who attended Hamden Hall.
Stephen Press, SIOR of Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services represented the Roche and Dinkeloo Family Partnerships in the transaction.
Founded in 1912, Hamden Hall is the nation’s fourth-oldest country day school.
