She Crusades for Mid-Century Moderns

There can’t be many people who know their town as well as Prudy Parris knows hers. After all, she’s lived in New Canaan for 44 years and raised four children – and we all know how much driving around town that entails. You get to know the highways and the byways.

For the last 20 years, Prudy has been selling real estate in New Canaan and the surrounding towns. “While the children were at home I worked at home as an investor,” she said, explaining that she had taught herself the business by reading self help books and attending investment seminars. “I love the world of finance,” she went on, “and if I could go back to college again I’d major in economics.” When her youngest set off for college she decided she needed to get out of the house and become more sociable -- and became a real estate agent.

Prudy’s facility with numbers serves her well when it comes to helping people buy or sell their homes. “I try to help my clients really understand the value of their home, not just the monetary value but also the aesthetic value,” she said. Prudy’s interest in the aesthetic was nurtured through her involvement with the New Canaan Historical Society and DOCOMOMO, an acronym for documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighborhoods of the modern movement.

New Canaan has a large number of mid-century modern houses, the most famous of which is the Philip Johnson Glass House, now part of the National Historical Trust. Prudy was part of a local committee set up by DOCOMOMO to document the modern houses in New Canaan. “When we started there were about 130 houses, but sadly there are many fewer today,” she said. Builders and buyers interested in the land rather than the home they have have torn down several architecturally significant houses over the years. New rules recently went into effect protecting these homes from immediate demolition. “There is a 90-day moratorium now, and we hope that during that time someone interested in the house may come forward,” she said. Prudy Parris is currently looking for a buyer for the Alice Ball house by Philip Johnson house on Oenoke Road.

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