Building of the Week: Waveny House, New Canaan, Connecticut

At the center of New Canaan, Connecticut’s beautiful, three-hundred acre Waveny Park stands “The Castle” which is also known as Waveny House. Designed in 1912 by William Tubby for oil magnate, Lewis Lapham, the Tudor-style house served as a summer home for the Lapham family.

Graceful stone porticoes overlook the luxurious grounds which were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. The mansion features elaborate wood paneling, leaded-glass windows, glistening wide-plank floors, marble fireplaces and hand-stenciled walls and ceilings. Relatively unchanged since it was built, the house was sold to the Town of New Canaan in 1967. Today, the house and Waveny Park are open to the public as a community recreation center. The mansion can be rented out for special occasions and weddings.



ABC Daytime

 Speaking of weddings, many of you are familiar with Waveny House. The exterior of “The Castle” served as the façade of All My Children’s “Cortlandt Manor.” There, the daytime drama staged one of the medium’s most opulent and highly-anticipated weddings—the nuptials of Nina Cortlandt and Cliff Warner in 1981. Here’s a clip from that fondly-remembered episode which gives us a good look at Waveny House.