https://greenwichfreepress.com/around-town/spared-from-the-wrecking...
"“The peninsula we call Greenwich Point was known as Elizabeth’s Neck from the founding of the town in 1640 until the Tods re-assembled the property from various Ferris heirs in the 1880s. Elizabeth’s Neck originally included the Ferris House property, so given the importance of this house the Greenwich Point Conservancy broadened its mission to include this historic property,” Mr. Franco said.
Franco explained how new research of historic deeds and a fascinating “wood-dating” technology called “dendrochronology” led to the discovery that the weathered red house is the oldest house in Greenwich, and is likely even the first house in Greenwich!
According to Mr. Franco, who grew up in Riverside, local lore had it that the familiar red house dated back to around 1700. But, obscured by overgrown shrubbery, in recent decades the house didn’t appear to be very special and had become largely forgotten.
When consulted, local historians at the Greenwich Historical Society and the Historic District Commission concurred that the Ferris House was an early colonial-era house, however the details regarding its provenance were murky.
“We decided we needed to get accurate information regarding the Ferris House. That started with research at the Historical Society’s archives and in town hall to see what records existed,” Mr. Franco said, adding that historian Missy Wolfe, an expert in 17th century deeds, generously donated her time and expertise and poured through documents in the 17th century document vault in the basement at Town Hall."
"Elizabeth Winthrop Feake, who Mr. Franco described as a fascinating woman who became the subject of Anya Seton’s book “The Winthrop Woman,” was unfortunately considered by the English in her era to be an adulteress. “Elizabeth’s husband Robert Feake abandoned his family shortly after they settled Greenwich. Elizabeth went to New Amsterdam – New York City – which was then Dutch territory, to get her marriage annulled so that she could marry William Hallet,” Mr. Franco said.
At the time and as part of this accommodation Elizabeth agreed that the Dutch would rule Greenwich. Later in 1653 the English and Dutch made a treaty and agreed that Greenwich would revert to English rule, which forced Elizabeth to abruptly leave Greenwich and flee to what is now Astoria, Queens. Prior to leaving Elizabeth and William Hallet sold the house and all their property in Greenwich to Jeffrey Ferris. Ferris died in 1666, and from his will we know that he left his property in Greenwich “undivided” to his four sons. His youngest son, James, who was living with Ferris, was given all the personal possessions in the house and continued to live at the homestead. According to Mr. Franco, Missy Wolfe found a deed from 1688 in Greenwich Town Hall, indicating that the four sons finally partitioned the lands they had collectively inherited decades earlier from their father, with James Ferris now owning outright the house he had had lived in since his father’s death and had until then jointly owned with his brothers. Mr. Franco stated, “we know from the dendrochronology that the house was rebuilt in 1688/1689 – possibly over an earlier original cellar and summer beam, which makes sense, since the deed shows us that James Ferris finally owned 100% of the homestead, after previously sharing ownership with his brothers for many years.”
The Ferris House has now been established to be the oldest house in Greenwich, preceding by several decades the Thomas Lyon House, the Bush-Holley House and Knapp Tavern (Putnam Cottage), which all have been dated by Lamont-Doherty dendrochronology testing to the early 1700s."
