Your guide to the heart of Litchfield County:
Discover local stories, hidden gems, and must-know events.

Michael Trapp Creates a Lush Green Treasure

By Joseph Montebello

Anyone who lives in or has traveled through Litchfield County and seeks the unusual and unique knows of Michael Trapp. The treasures he collects and sells in his West Cornwall shop and the gardens and interiors he designs are in a class by themselves. His ability to juxtapose old with new, antique with modern is his secret artistic weapon. Whether it be a patch of land or a room, his goal is always to focus on the offbeat.

Trapp did not grow up anticipating he would become a designer. He was born in Maine but since his father was a professor of logistics for the Air Force, he spent much of his childhood in Spain and France. His mother was a collector and he learned from her the value of a particular piece and developed the knack for finding one-of-a-kind objects and pieces of furniture. 

“My parents were gardeners and they felt that children were a good labor force. I never took art classes, but I did study landscape architecture. My landscape business came from people seeing my garden around the shop and wanting me to make one for them.”

Over 25 years ago Trapp discovered West Cornwall while visiting friends who were house hunting. “They had looked at this property and decided it was too small for them,” explains Trapp, “but they convinced me to buy so I did and made my home upstairs and opened a shop.”

The shop, of course, is one aspect of the story, but the gardens have brought the property to a whole other dimension. Perched on a hillside overlooking the Housatonic River, they have been described as distinctly Italian, European, Mediterranean, and Old World rolled into one. There is definitely a medieval flair to the setting. Strolling the gardens along the cobble pavers one encounters pieces Trapp has salvaged and turned into works of art: concrete balustrades, fractured pillars, antiques urns, and, of course, the plantings themselves. Ah, and the surprise of discovering a spectacular 10 x 60 lap pool with limestone coping tucked away between perfectly curated shrubs and a blooming wisteria. 

There was no garden on the property when Trapp purchased it and while it is less than ¾ of an acre, it encompasses most of the property. He drew no plans, but simply followed his instincts and filled the area with perennials (there are some annuals in various pots). Over the years many plants have grown and matured; while some have done well, others have disappeared.

“Gardens are alive, things grow and thrive, others die,” says Trapp. “That is what a garden is—it is never the same year to year but that is what I like about it. I don’t add plants often, but I rely heavily on self-seeding. It makes weeding a challenge but the results are rewarding.”

While his own gardens are free of formal layouts, Trapp will sometimes do rough sketches for clients but there are no formal CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings. On most projects he is given free reign to make all plant choices.

Even though Trapp designs both indoor and outdoor spaces he does not favor one over the other.

“Both are about balance, proportion, and texture. I enjoy both as long as it is interesting work, but I end up doing more landscape design because it is easier to manage.”

In either case, he continues to explore new horizons through his travels and is able to translate his visions into reality for both himself and his clients.

Washington Supply Company: ‘It’s not a family-run business, but we’re like a family here’

By Linda Tuccio-Koonz

Washington Supply Company is under new ownership following a seamless transition, so it’s business as usual at this community staple, which has been going strong since 1893.

“We just want to continue the success the former owners have had,” says Jason Liebnitzky, of Trade Supply Group, the Manhattan-based partnership that took over in June. “Part of the allure was how it’s very customer-focused.”

The store sells everything people need to build and maintain a home. Employees know their customers, many of them personally, he says. “The current team has been so successful. We’re looking to stay with that.”

That team includes former co-owner Valerie Sedelnick of New Milford, who’s retiring this spring after 34 years. “It’s not a family-run business, but we’re like a family here,” she says.  

Sedelnick and four co-workers assumed ownership of Washington Supply Company in 2006. “Two retired and that left three of us. We stuck together.” 

Now that she and Jim Bate, of Cornwall, are at retirement age, they’re stepping down. (Jay Combs, formerly of Torrington, now of Arizona, already retired.) 

Sedelnick and Bate say their relationships with employees, vendors, and customers are what they’ll miss most. “We’ve had so much community support over the years. It’s just a wonderful feeling,” Bate says.

Trade Supply Group owns and operates eight building material businesses in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Liebnitzky says Washington Supply Company is a “very well-run, well-managed operation.”

Artist Cass Hancock has begun an art installation in New Milford called the Phone Booth Project. He has taken an old phone booth and installed it at 29 West St. in New Milford. The installations change however, right now the theme is Supporting Ukraine. Cass invites anyone to stop by the phone booth and to leave a sunflower to share with other visitors. Take a photo and spread our support for Ukraine.

By Mary Beth Lawlor

Renowned chef and owner of Good News Restaurant and Bar in Woodbury, Carole (Pidhorodecky) Peck is raising money for Ukraine. 

In 1907 all of Peck’s grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, leaving their families behind for a new and “hopefully” free life in America. Which, thankfully, they found. She was raised as a Ukie kid, all holidays were celebrated with the traditional food and by going to Ukrainian church. In the summers they would vacation at a Ukrainian resort in the Catskills. At age 16 she and her parents visited their relatives in Ukraine, where it was quite a life awakening experience for her. Now, feeling helpless, Peck is offering an additional traditional Ukrainian menu at Good News Restaurant and Bar to raise money for World Central Kitchen and their refugee relief efforts. Peck invites her guests to savor these special offerings.

The additional Ukrainian menu will continue to change but as of this writing, a sampling of the menu includes a spring salad made of cucumbers, radishes, scallions, and walnuts, on a watercress bed with sour cream vinaigrette; handmade pierogies; seabass covered in a mixed mushroom sauce and parsnips puree; Ukrainian Apple Cake (Yabluchnyk) with whipped cream and brown sugar syrup.

Eclectic new shops create fresh, fun feel in town

By Linda Tuccio-Koonz

If you haven’t been to the heart of New Milford recently, you’re in for a surprise. “It’s wonderful, I’ve never seen anything like it,” says Karen Ross, owner of Joe’s Salon, a Bank Street staple for 40 years.

Multiple new shops have opened, complementing old favorites and giving the charming downtown a fresh, fun feel. “There’s been so much turnover,” Ross says. 

“The people coming in now are more thoughtful about what they’re doing and how they present their businesses. They’re spending time and money to make each space look special and welcoming.”

Lifestyle/gift boutiques such as Compass Road Collection and The Safari Collective feature everything from candles and home decor to jewelry crafted by local artisans. Another addition, The Hunt, offers a curated selection of vintage and new items from clothing to cookware.

Around the corner on Main Street, BD Provisions sells bulk foods from cereal to candy (plus spices, teas, nuts, and more) by the pound.

“This spot was vacant for over a decade,” says owner Jen Clark. “People said, ‘Oh, you’re so brave to open during a pandemic,’ but we thought it was a good fit for the community, and it’s been a real hit.”

Zero—or low-waste packaging is used, including free compostable or biodegradable bags. Fill your own jars, if you prefer. Disposable gloves are provided, to wear when scooping from containers. 

“When the world shut down because of the pandemic, people realized the importance of community,” Clark says. “The awareness of hygiene and the importance of keeping everyone safe helped us.”

Ethnic restaurants, like Momma’s Tacos on Church Street near Village Center for the Arts (VCA), are also part of this eclectic mix. Sharon Kaufman, director of VCA’s pottery studio, says the change in town is a visible one.

So how did it happen? A population shift is part of it, Kaufman says. “There are people trying to get out of the metropolitan squeeze and move somewhere safer; New Milford is on their radar.”

Shops catering to this new population are making the downtown “feel more like a destination,” she says. “The shops are a little more open-minded and forward-thinking. There’s a juice bar which I don’t think in the past could have survived. Even our pottery studio has gone insane with business.” 

Although some vacant storefronts remain, several sport signs about what’s moving in. “We’re getting a cheese and charcuterie shop (Bleu on Bank),” Ross says. Also coming: Café 1840, a gourmet café and chocolate shop. “Now, it’s like ‘Let’s go down and see what’s happening.’ There’s so much more available. The shopping experience is there. It’s a destination now.” 

That means more foot traffic near old favorites like Bank Street Theater, which weathered the pandemic with a reduced schedule, screening classics/older movies when new options (like the Spider-Man smash, No Way Home) weren’t available. “We’ll stay open to remain an integral part of the downtown,” says Meredith Cleary, president of The Bank Street Group, which owns the cinema.

Ross still remembers when Adam Sandler’s film company lined Bank Street with red Corvettes for the filming of his 2002 comedy, Mr. Deeds. “People came for appointments to have their hair done just to get a peek.”

The recent influx of new stores and restaurants during the challenges of the pandemic is even more exciting than that Corvette takeover, she says. “That people have the stamina to do this is such an optimistic choice. I love them for doing it because I feel like that—optimistic.”

By Brandee Coleman Gilmore

The stirring scent of a wood fireplace is the first thing you notice at Great Mountain Forest’s Forestry Office in Norfolk. The weathered pine garage is filled with tools, organized to the hilt. Friendly foresters emerge clad in Carhartt and denim. At the center is a broken-in set of furniture. You get the sense it’s hard work around here, but it’s family, too. 

Russell Russ of Colebrook took over as the daily weather observer for GMF’s National Weather Service Cooperative Station in 2003. His father, Darrell Russ, had suffered a stroke and could no longer mind the precious task he’d been doing on a volunteer basis since the 1950s. Russell had absorbed a lot as a kid, but the chance to ask questions was gone. 

“That was tough… he wanted to tell me, but he couldn’t get it out. So I had to rely on old notes.”

There was no shortage of those. Darrell’s lengthy service was only outdone by the 60 volunteer years Edward ‘Ted’ Childs—the weather observation station’s founder—had put in. Mr. Childs, as Russell refers to him, took an interest in the weather at a young age. During his studies at Yale, he’d set up a weather recording station on his family’s estate (just down the lane from the present-day forestry office). On New Year’s Day 1932, he started taking daily readings and by 1942, Russell says, the National Weather Service came calling to see how legitimate the operation was, to decide if they should let it into their network.

“They said, ‘Holy cow. This guy’s made his own weather sheets. He’s recording everything. He’s there every day… and he’s meticulous!’” explains Russell.

‘Norfolk 2SW’ became one of the National Weather Service’s most prized locations because it lacked vulnerability to development. They figured it might make for years of consistent readings. 

Mr. Childs delivered for decades.

For 90 years now, one of these three men (and just a handful of others) has gotten up and trudged through all Mother Nature can muster to meticulously record daily temperature and precipitation readings. Their reports collaborate with nearly 12,000 cooperative National Weather Service stations like it around the country to make large-scale forecasting and analysis possible.

“We get high marks from the weather service, rarely do we have errors,” remarks Russ.

Some of the 1932-era weather instrumentation still meets the standard for official readings (they’ve got two, newer digital sets for backup), and Russell totes the same handmade, worn clipboards his dad and Mr. Childs used. He says one thing has changed for good, though—Excel spreadsheets over crunching numbers manually at the end of the month.

These days, it’s harder and harder to find volunteers to do this thankless but imperative work, so the job is often tied to paid positions. But for this part of Russ’s job as GMF Forester, the motivation goes beyond money. 

“They did it for so long, and I watched them do it as a kid… the fact that I can carry that on, that’s very important for me.”

By Tovah Martin

Before Lynden Miller tackled the public gardens of New York City, she transformed her landscape in Sharon. 

Lynden Miller makes every moment count—especially in her garden. As soon as the snow melts, her garden kicks in. Even before spring is official, hellebores and winter aconite perform when the ground is not blanketed with snow. As the weather warms, a pageant unfolds. It’s all part of a lifetime spent choreographing color. Previous to her trajectory as an internationally known landscape designer, Lynden was an artist composing abstract collages. She just swapped shovels for paintbrushes. “This is really an enormous painting,” she says with a sweeping gesture that encompasses her Sharon landscape. And like a canvas, every hue is premeditated. Spring might look like it has spontaneously sprung, but really, it all happens on cue. 

Like wardrobes, color schemes change according to season in Lynden’s Sharon garden. For example, snowdrops are planted sparingly. “You don’t really need white flowers in spring, do you? You want color,” declares the award-winning mastermind/consultant behind many public gardens in New York City. To follow Lynden Miller through a garden is to receive a crash course in aesthetics. Among the treats of your tutorial is visiting a canvas that has evolved over nearly half a century. 

Lynden and Leigh Miller bought their Sharon property in 1976, prior to leaving for a two year stint in Britain. While her husband was working in that country, Lynden took full advantage to educate herself as a gardener. She enrolled in courses, but she also opened her eyes. “I went to every garden within reach. My young sons were always saying, ‘Oh Mom, not another garden!’ But that’s where I gathered ideas.” Back in the US, she continued her formal education in landscape design at the New York Botanical Garden. Meanwhile, she was laying the groundwork for her personal Sharon garden—starting with a long, curved yew (Taxus hicksii) hedge that defines the garden’s borders. The hedge serves as a backdrop behind a mixed border of carefully selected and clipped perennials and shrubs. On the other side, axes lead to perennials all calibrated to match in height, girth, and blooming stint. But the real genius is the masterful color palette, and spring is when it really steps out. 

Lynden Miller has always been about connoisseur plant selections. In 1982, when she was asked by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Administrator of Central Park, to resurrect and then mastermind the six-acre Conservatory Garden in East Harlem, she created such a confection of color that the donations poured in and the vandalism vanished. The list of her further projects in public spaces is phenomenally impressive, including Bryant Park, Battery Park City, the New York Botanical Garden, Madison Square Park, Fort Tryon Park, Hudson River Park, as well as the campuses of Columbia University, Princeton University, and Stony Brook University. Meanwhile, she somehow found time to develop her own Sharon garden.

The formal sections of the Sharon garden feature wonders like long ribbons of grape hyacinths escorted by daffodils. But it’s not all formal—the woodland garden went in decades ago, but only now are the lungworts, hellebores, Spanish bluebells, mertensia virginica, Solomon seal, hostas, etc., gaining the substantial numbers necessary to make their statement of heart-stopping lushness. Beneath the birch trees that she added as “domes and minarets,” the woodland perennials scamper. Scattered through the scene, a graceful daffodil of luscious color catches your eye. Not surprisingly, narcissus breeders Brent & Becky Heath named it for a particularly tasteful and accomplished steward of horticulture. It’s called ‘Lovely Lynden’.

From Bethlehem to Dakar, Allegra Itsoga’s Work Never Stops

By Marcia DeSanctis 

For the past nine years, as executive director of the NGO Le Korsa, Bethlehem’s Allegra Itsoga has lived a thoroughly bicontinental life. Before COVID, she commuted every six weeks between Litchfield County and Senegal’s capital Dakar, as well as Tambacounda, a region in the east of the country where many projects, including a dormitory and learning center for young women, and an elementary school, have flourished. Le Korsa is a sibling organization of the Bethany-based Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and is in keeping with the humanitarian values of the Albers—the hugely influential German artist couple who pioneered modernism and for 26 years made their home in Connecticut.

Allegra oversees all of the work in Senegal—these days, from home, with the help of a full in-country staff. The model of investing local hires with authority is, she maintains, what distinguishes Le Korsa from other organizations. “Even before COVID, we have always leaned on them heavily,” she says. “They say, ‘This is what we need,’ and we say, “Here’s how we can help.” Unlike large, bureaucratic NGOs that often dictate solutions from the top, Le Korsa listens to the people they serve. Because they are a small organization, they are also able to act quickly and effectively.

The road from childhood in Watertown to building schools in Senegal included a crucial stop in California. While at the University of San Francisco, her Ghanaian micro-economics professor encouraged her to apply to the Peace Corps. She was deployed to Gabon in West Africa, where her fluent French was an asset. While teaching and setting up national parks, she met and married her husband Idanga, also known as Kenneth, a biochemist. They moved back to the States, where she worked in non-profits, and heard about Le Korsa. “I always knew I should be doing something in Africa. So when this job opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it,” she says.

Le Korsa is discerning about the projects they undertake. Among her many jobs is to enlist and manage partners, such as other NGOs that provide medical equipment for a pediatric hospital, a pioneering maternal health clinic led by a leading female OB/GYN that is Allegra’s “passion project,” and a medical outpost near the Gambian border. The group has also enlisted the talents of celebrated architects such as Toshiko Mori, who designed the building for Thread, Le Korsa’s artist residency that is also a beloved community gathering point. “We have a real attentiveness to aesthetics because we feel that just because your situation is different or you are poor, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy something beautiful,” she says.

Back home in Bethlehem, she finds beauty in her bucolic back yard, which also provides a living biology lesson for her eight year-old daughter Frankie, a budding ice hockey player. “We get all sorts of woodland creatures, hawks, frogs, and turtles, which was perfect last year when we were stuck home in the pandemic,” she says.

When not on ZOOM calls, fundraising for Le Korsa, chaperoning Girl Scout sleepovers, or driving Frankie to school or sports, Allegra is training for the Disney World Marathon in Orlando. The comparison to her humanitarian work to improve education and health outcomes in Senegal is not lost on her. “It’s a long game, right? There’s definitely the same mentality. Not every mile is going to be your best, but as long as you get there in the end, the journey is what matters. I think that’s the key.”

By Clinton Kelly

April has been gaslighting me every year for the past sixteen Litchfield County years and I’m tired of it. Suuuuure, it’s “technically” spring, but it doesn’t exactly feel like it when I’m standing knee-deep in mud—in my own driveway—and the sky has been the color of a prepubescent squirrel for four months straight. I need green leaves. I need real strawberries. I need baby birds! Aaaargh!

The older you get the more you realize that Mother Nature is in charge, not you. Unfortunately, the older I get, the less patience I have for anyone who isn’t… me (Momma N included). So, I’ve developed a few strategies for getting through the next month or so. You’re welcome to try them if, when it comes to anticipating spring, you’re just like me—an impatient rage-machine.

1. Ramp Up. When I first heard my chef friends extol the virtues of ramps, I was skeptical. Ramps Shmamps. Big whoop. But then I tasted these wild onions and, holy aioli, they’re amazing! In April they might be growing freely in that damp, unlandscaped part of your own backyard, or your favorite farmer’s market might have a few bunches for sale. (But don’t procrastinate; ramp season is notoriously short.) If you can find or forage them, sauté the delicate leaves and bulbs in a little olive oil and toss with pasta. Add them to a risotto. Whip them up into a compound butter. Pickle and pile ’em on a sandwich. You’ll find yourself in dreary-day heaven! Just do everyone a favor if you do decide to venture into the woods and forage responsibly. Nobody likes a ramp-hog.

2. Ignore Reality. Let’s face it, you do have the option to stick your head in the proverbial sand and pretend that everything is finefinetotallyfine—even though we’re still not out of the freakin’ pandemic, the world is on fire and we have another whole month before being outdoors is pleasurable again. And the best way to do that is with a good book. Drag your tired ass out of bed and head to the Hickory Stick Bookshop in Washington or House of Books in Kent and load up with stories that help you forget your own sad one. My favorite reads of the last year were The Dutch House and The Anomaly. And any Regency-era romance written by Georgette Heyer because, deep down, I am evidently a 200-year-old British lady.

3. Indulge Your Agoraphobia. Remember all that stuff I said about ramp-hunting and venturing out to buy books? Forget it. I was being stupid. There’s really no reason to leave the comfort of your own home when Woodford’s General Store will deliver delicious local stuff to you on Friday mornings (if you’re within a 15-mile radius of Kent). I once survived for a week on nothing but a quiche from High 5 Pie and half a country ham. No regrets. Of course, they’re open for foot traffic too, which is probably the best way to do things because they have a bunch of other delicious stuff and little gorgeous things for around the house. Certainly enough to distract you until the phoebes make their annual nest under the eaves outside your bedroom window. (My favorite thing in the world! I can’t wait! Hurry up, spring!)

Two Artists Bring New Meaning to a Classic Form

By Joseph Montebello

“Kimono: A traditional Japanese T-shaped, wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body. Kimono are typically made from a long, narrow bolt of cloth known as tanmono.” So reads the description of a classic kimono. And then there is the kimono as created by artist Peter Zsiba.

He and his partner in life and in business Maura Smolover are the owners and creators of Arts in Architecture in New Milford, which designs fine decorative elements and entertainment attractions that provide thematic identity for casinos, restaurants, and hotels. This includes lighting, sound, and kinetic effects that surprise, delight, and capture the imagination. As they describe it: “Art that amplifies the experience of the place and tells the story of its site.”

“We both worked at the Metropolitan Opera,” explains Smolover. “Peter was a scenic artist and I was an assistant to the set designers. But we did not meet there. That took place on the movie set of The Wiz. I was working for the production designer, who sent me over to Fantasy Props where Peter was working. We have what I call a 40-year personal, professional, and parenting relationship.”

In addition to telling a story or setting a scene, the couple wanted to design art that would be lasting. They got a call from Warner LeRoy, who had created Tavern on the Green in Central Park. He wanted dining to be a form of entertainment and so the couple created all the crystal chandeliers for the restaurant. Smolover designed all the stained glass pieces.

Zsiba and Smolover were then commissioned by Royal Caribbean Cruises to decorate the casinos and also create artwork for the board members’ private suites. The commissions continued and they have created art for other cruise lines as well as major corporations and private individuals. They are known nationally and internationally for their unique approach to making art out of glass. Which brings us to the kimonos—their latest creation.

“I use a process of kiln-forming, a technique where I manipulate shapes of glass with heat and molds,” explains Zsiba. “The molds sculpt dimension and give the glass castings an array of peaks and valleys and can create translucencies, reflections, refractions, and even glass with stonelike opaque richness.”

The kimono’s color palette lends itself to luminous layers of glass. Each piece is 5/16 inches thick. Each sheet has to be fired four times and handled with the utmost care. Even though the glass can be bent and rolled it is still fragile. The artwork in its finished form measures six feet by seven feet and is bordered with a simple frame.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has designated 2022 as the year of glass. Zsiba and Smolover have named their project Visions of Hope and each piece gives visual voice to an aspect of love and hope and a tribute to opera’s beloved Madame Butterfly.