Eleanor Tripp 1936 – 2003

ELEANOR TRIPP 1936 – 2003

Louis Tripp and his first wife, Florence Dennis Tripp, purchased the Handy house from Abbott Smith on September 4, 1936. Florence Tripp passed away in 1939, before she and Louis could retire to Westport and the Handy house. Louis married his second wife, Eleanor Swanteson, in 1941. Born in Boston, Massachu­setts, Eleanor grew up in Washington DC for the better part of her life.

Louis and Eleanor continued work of repairing the Handy House, but they always viewed their work as restoration.  Many of their projects were recorded by Louis and Eleanor in the form of correspondence to contractors and/ or notes filed away in their personal papers. Like Abbott Smith, much of the work done by Louis and Eleanor is chronicled in photographs. In 1948, Louis and Eleanor left Washington DC and relocated to Westport, making the Handy house their home.

Louis Tripp died on September 11, 1963. Following Louis’s passing, Eleanor continued to live in the Handy house the rest of her life. Eleanor’s passion for history was not limited simply to the Handy house, but covered a broad spectrum of interests as they related to Westport and the area in general. In 1992, the same year the Handy house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Eleanor was made an honorary member of the Westport Historical Commission, in recognition of her work documenting Westport’s history. In an effort to preserve the house in perpetuity, Eleanor placed an easement on the property so that it could not be significantly altered by future owners.

After living in the Handy House for 55 years and pursuing research on all types of local history, Eleanor passed away August 16, 2003. Eleanor was 93 years old.  In 2010 Town Meeting approved Community Preservation Act funding for the purchase of the Handy House by the Westport Historical Society.

Please look at the Westport Historical Society website for more information.

Norma Judson, a local historian, gathered the papers of Eleanor Tripp and put them in three binders which are physically located at the History Room of the Westport Library.  Eleanor’s indexes are included. We have scanned these documents as is and have not corrected the typing and spelling. We did put numbers for missing pages so the reader is not confused. We might note that Eleanor Tripp was famous for her terrible typing – something you will note right away. Unfortunately some pages are not clear.  We hope you enjoy this important work by Eleanor Tripp.

Betty Slade