Obituary of Barbara Kenworthy Garfield

Barbara Kenworthy Garfield, whose "in-scale" house designs added significantly to the charm of the Rowayton section where she came to live in 1994, died January 18 at home. She was 77. The cause was cancer. Barbara had raised four children during more than three decades residence in Darien where she was a successful Realtor and designer of homes built by Arthur Olson & Associates. She later developed an "in scale" style which is found in her Rowayton homes. Commenting on that style, Barbara once said: "It's the idea that the size of my homes must be 'in-scale' with the community, with their surroundings, and that the interiors relate to the persons living within them. As a result, it's a place you want to be." Builders would take her rough sketches and refine them to her satisfaction. Shortly before her death, she recalled that her family had lived in a half dozen Darien homes which she had remodeled and redecorated. Barbara's first home in Rowayton at 186 Rowayton Avenue was a historic structure of quaint appeal which she made even more attractive while maintaining its integrity. The downtown zoning code allowed for three more houses on the property which she designed in scale. This enclave of houses became Jo's Barn Way. She next took a historic building complex at 3 McKinley St. and did the same. Still later came the conversion of a property at 188 Rowayton Ave and the next door property at 190 Rowayton Ave. , her last domicile. Meanwhile, she accepted the invitation of developer Peter Marsella of Greenwich to design four new homes and redesign an existing historic home at the corner of Rowayton Avenue and Witch Lane. Barbara often incorporated antique interior beam-structures and wood trim from old New England barns, as well as hardware and design highlights such as full length storm shutters from France . Her Rowayton homes have small footprints, but soaring ceiling heights and large windows highlighted by walls of white hand-troweled plaster. She used high end contemporary lighting and stainless steel appliances. The exteriors have French-inspired patios and landscaping incorporating small ponds or pools. These elements are common to all of her homes, each uniquely sited for light and privacy. All this work has brought her recognition in such national publications as "Elle," "Traditional Home," "Renovation Style," "At Home," and "Connecticut Castles and Cottages." Barbara opened her houses for benefits and political gatherings and devoted considerable time to maintaining open spaces such as the Old School Field (aka Witch Park). She also rode herd on the annual Rowayton Shakespeare production and the development of Pinkney Park. "She was a uniquely resourceful woman." said Jeanne Asher, a friend. "She has left a remarkable legacy of houses." Barbara's success in real estate and house design had been made imperative by divorce after a 35-year marriage to George H. Garfield, an investment manager and descendant of James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. A statuesque blonde, Barbara won more than one beauty contest at the University of Colorado where she took a bachelor's degree in 1954 with a major in music and anthropology. She explained her marriage at 19: "I was an only child and wanted a large family in the worst way." The four Garfield children have produced six grandchildren. Barbara had come to Rowayton after living alone for eight years in a home on Beach Drive in Darien with a view of Long Island Sound. "I've always been a walker, but in all those years there, I never encountered a single soul." She found Rowayton much more inviting. "I have really loved it here" she often said. Barbara was born and raised in downtown Chicago. Her father, Cloyd Young Kenworthy, owner of a suburban automobile factory which produced the Kenworthy model of his design, had short-lived success in the World War I era. Her mother, Ethel Dorcas Kenworthy, was a successful professional in the advertising field working for Brown and Bigelow in Chicago. "My father died when I was very young and my mother was so busy with her work that I was brought up by a maternal aunt," she remembered. She attended a series of private boarding schools until taking a diploma from the Francis W. Parker School. Surviving are sons George H. Garfield, Jr., a real estate executive in Los Angeles, Calif., and Peter Stanton Garfield, an artist in New York City; two daughters, Susan Garfield Bowditch, a French teacher at a Denver, Colo., public high school, and Sarah Garfield Sparks, a potter and community activist in Encinitas, Calif., and six grandchildren. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Unitarian Church in Westport, 20 Lyons Plains Road, on Saturday March 20, 2010 at 2 pm with a reception to follow. Memorial contributions may be made to the Unitarian Church of Westport Music Fund, 20 Lyons Plains Road, Westport, Conn., 06840 or MasoniCare, 535 Connecticut Ave., Norwalk, 06851. Funeral Home: Edward Lawrence Funeral Home 2119 Post Road Darien, CT USA 06820