Waterfront at the end of Gilliam Lane
"Twin Lakes" was the silly name a would-be developer, Jack Brod, stuck on the this end of the road when he had it in mind to festoon the place with 35 houses. He lost that particular dream and was limited to 5 lots, two of which were carved out of this, the original mansion's yard. Still 1.82 acres remain, leading down to Cos Cob Harbor and providing tidal access to Long Island Sound. I don't think I've been in the place since the Fritzsches owned it and, with all possible fondness for the Fritzsches and their 7 (? - seemed like that many) kids, the house was a tad run-down. The listing says this was "renovated" - there's that word again - in 2006 and there's an open house tomorrow so I'll go see and report back. $15 million, if you're wondering.
Oh: the "Twin Lakes" are - you guessed it - a pair of little brackish ponds, but nice enough in their own way. We used to play hockey on the first one, when Muzz Patrick (Patrick Division was named after his grandfather, Muzz was a Rangers player and, later, their manager) lived on its edge. And Dorothy Hamill first skated there, on her way to Innsbruck. Good memories, nice neighborhood.
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Do you remember the Clarks, the very nice family who bought the place from the Fritzsches and spent a fair amount fixing it up? As did many, they loved that house, their only complaint being the ugly modern house Brod built for himself, far too close to the original.
At one of their annual Christmas parties, Mrs. Clark told me she and her husband had seriously considered buying Brod's house and pulling it down, solely for the purpose of improving their view. Ultimately, she said, they decided against it, considering the expenditure a bit too extravagant (that sort of restraint would make one a laughing-stock in Greenwich not many years later). Too bad, though; it's a wonderful house but compromised by having too little land around it and being too close to its neighbors.
Someone did finally tear down the Brod place; unfortunately, he replaced it with something not much better. And the current seller of this house (it's a relocation company doing the selling but you get my drift) is responsible for tearing down a grand old house up on the corner of Riversville and, I think, North Porchuck (across from the J.V. Reed place, anyway). He, too, wanted to be a developer and had 35 acres of dirt ready and waiting after he'd finished his tearing down but either he lost his zoning fight or his money or something because, other than losing its original house, the land remains as it was.
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