The museum was able to buy back the 1936 Cass Gilbert's Memorial Library and the surrounding grounds Feb.23. The Keeler Tavern Museum paid $1.15 million to reacquire the 1.1-acre property at 152 Main St., including the 1937 brick building originally designed as a memorial to architect Cass Gilbert, who lived in the Keeler Tavern building. The building for decades was the house and dental office of the late Dr. Robert Mead.
Gilbert designed many famous buildings, including the Woolworth tower in Manhattan and the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. He is best known locally in Ridgefield for his gift to the town of the fountain at the intersection of Main Street and West Lane.
The acquisition will add the property to the main 2.7-acre Keeler Tavern Museum property at 132 Main St., including the Keeler Tavern, the Garden House, the barn and the caretaker’s cottage, create a 3.8-acre campus.
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