Oh, the irony: P&Z approves plans to preserve “historically significant” 1906 building, “but can you stick some solar panels on the roof?”
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As envisioned by the guardians of greenwich’s historic buildings. “Call it the green house!”
We’ll leave it to someone else to explain how solar panels are any business of the meddling members of the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission, and just note that such features were rare in 1906; in fact, I don’t believe any existed at all. Change my mind™
Historic Greenwich building approved for apartment conversion
GREENWICH — Plans to convert two former dental offices on the first floor of 23 Maple Ave. off East Putnam Avenue, which has been deemed historically and architecturally significant, into residential apartments have been approved.
The site currently contains three apartments, two dental offices and 13 parking spaces. The dental offices would be turned into dwellings for a total of five units, and another parking space would be added.
As a condition of the special-permit approval, the commission recommended that the developers of the property add landscaping at the site and explore the possibility of adding solar panels to the roof.
A previous Greenwich Time article published in Mat offers more details of the project:
Historic Greenwich house would swap dental offices for apartments
By Robert Marchant, Staff WriterMay 10, 2026
GREENWICH — Dental offices in a house at a prominent location in central Greenwich, with a significant repository of local history attached to it, are set to be converted into apartments.
The recently submitted plan would convert two former dental offices on the first floor at 23 Maple Ave. off East Putnam Avenue into residential apartments.
The plan calls for the larger office on the south end of the property to be turned into a three-bedroom apartment, and the smaller one on the east side would be made over as a one-bedroom unit.
…. According to the attorney representing the owners of the site, Michael Thomason, the dental practice there had ceased, and the building’s owners “have been unable to re-lease the dental offices.” The site’s ownership is listed as Coleman Business Holdings LLC, associated with the family of a dentist and oral surgeon who worked at the site.
The plan calls for the larger office on the south end of the property to be turned into a three-bedroom apartment, and the smaller one on the east side would be made over as a one-bedroom unit.
…. The house has some history and is known in historical records as the “Hyde House.” The home was initially owned by Dr. Fritz Hydeand his wife, and fellow physician, Dr. Harriet Baker Hyde. Those two doctors were among the principal founders of Greenwich Hospital, which opened in 1906. The hospital is a short distance away from the structure.
But wait, there’s more!
Around the corner, at 23 Maple Ave., is the Dr. Hyde House (c.1906), an amalgamation of three different architectural styles. The stone walls and double-bay corner window with leaded glass suggest the Tudor Revival style, while the orange clay roof tiles and stucco walls are Spanish Colonial Revival elements. The stone porte-cochere – with its nearly-flat, cantilevered roof – calls to mind the contemporary Prairie Style houses of Frank Lloyd Wright.
