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Age Hasn't Diminished Its Charm

Nineteen years ago, Westport residents David and Andrea Cross fell in love -- with an almost 300-year-old home at 46 Kings Highway S., that is. And although they said they had plenty of houses to choose from, this one was just right.

"We knew we definitely wanted an antique or vintage home, but we were also looking for a livability factor,” Andrea said. “So we looked at homes from the 1920s and earlier. And this house really had all of those pieces, as well as the charm."

Though the house, one of the oldest in Westport, was built circa 1700, Andrea said the previous owners made it functional for a family of today while preserving its vintage qualities. It was this combination of old and new that made the house a perfect choice.

"[The previous owners] had bought and flipped antique houses before, so they really did a lot of the heavy lifting," Andrea said. "They updated the kitchen, bathrooms and landscaping. We expanded and tweaked it to suit our needs, but we didn't have to jack it up."

In the 19 years they've lived in the house, the only major projects Andrea and David have done is building a freestanding garage and expanding the second floor.

And even though they added about 1,000 square feet   during the expansion, Andrea said they didn't expand the home's footprint.

"I'm pleased we were able to add square footage without changing the streetscape of our house," she said. "I've seen what the house looked like a century ago. And because all the additions done before us and by us all came to the rear of the house, the front looks the same as it did almost 300 years ago."

For preserving their home, the Crosses were among nine recipients of a 2010 Historic Preservation Award.

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