Built in 1902, the once-gleaming Greens Ledge Lighthouse off the coast of Rowayton had fallen into serious disrepair. In 2016, the Pettee family took on the challenge. Today, the lighthouse has been restored and reimagined as a marine education center—while continuing to serve as an active aid to navigation. Set in Long Island Sound, it now hosts hands-on environmental programs, limited overnight stays, and occasional events.
The story begins in 2014, when the Pettees moved to the Rowayton waterfront after 30 years in New Canaan. Tim Pettee had grown up in nearby Westport; he’d always had a boat on the Sound. Greens Ledge Light was a familiar landmark—one he had watched steadily deteriorate, with peeling paint, structural damage, and ultimately hermetically sealed by the U.S. Coast Guard.
In August 2016, Tim was out on the family boat with his wife, Sheila, and two of their four children, Elizabeth and Alex. As they circled the lighthouse structure, Elizabeth, then 16, announced, “Dad, that lighthouse is for sale.” Tim was skeptical—until she showed him the federal auction listing on her phone. “Let’s look into it,” he said.
Later that evening, Tim raised the idea. “This could be a nice legacy for the Pettee family. Let’s go for it.” He set a firm cap of $200,000, assuming that would keep them safely out of contention. To his surprise, it did not. In mid-October, Elizabeth called him with the news: They had won the auction. The final price was $150,000. Alex, who is in real estate, noted it could be the best deal in Fairfield County, also saying: “But Dad, don’t leave us a legacy of rocks, because it’s going to fall down.”
Although the lighthouse was structurally salvageable, restoring it would require significant investment. The family responded by establishing the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the project. Community support emerged almost immediately. Neighbors and fellow boaters offered to help. A couple of those original callers are still on the board.
Over the past decade, the nonprofit has raised more than $3 million through a combination of fundraising and an innovative operating model. Approximately $2 million went toward restoration. The lighthouse reopened to the public in 2022.
Tim and Sheila Pettee have devoted 10 years to restoring Greens Ledge Light located off the Rowayton coast.
In 2015, Greens Ledge Lighthouse was declared surplus to the needs of the U.S. Coast Guard and offered for auction through the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. In 2017, the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society launched its “Save the Light” campaign, raising more than $1.5 million through private donations. By 2020, the lighthouse had been repainted inside and out, and the tower’s daymark—formerly white and brown—was updated to white and gumball red.
This recently refurbished “spark plug” lighthouse sits on a reef named for Pirate Green, who is said to have sailed with the infamous Captain Kidd. According to local legend, Pirate Green was once chained to the ledge as a warning to would-be marauders. Constructed in 1902, Greens Ledge’s foundation was reinforced with 30,000 tons of granite from the excavation of Radio City Music Hall in 1932, which helped it withstand the devastating Hurricane of 1938.
Beginning in 2024, the Greens Ledge Light Preservation Society began offering overnight stays at the lighthouse, which sleeps up to six and includes two bathrooms and an outdoor hot-water shower.
The living spaces were designed by Alex Pettee and his girlfriend, a graphic designer, who plan to marry at the lighthouse next year.
Greens Ledge Light is also believed to have inspired the green light in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby, where it symbolizes Jay Gatsby’s longing for Daisy—and, more broadly, the hope and elusiveness of the American Dream.
“The foundation decided not to use historical period furnishings,” says Tim. “We imagined two keepers living here today—what would they want, and what would they need?” To bring that vision to life, they hired a Louisiana-based custom boat builder to create the second-floor kitchen and transform the fourth-floor former watch room into a lounge.
There are three decks on the lighthouse: a veranda, a circular parapet off the watch room, and a circular deck surrounding the lantern room.
Major structural restoration work commenced in April 2018 and was substantially completed in May 2023, while work continues to restore and preserve the interior and exterior condition of the lighthouse.
An osprey cam keeps track of Ollie and Olivia, the pair who return here to their nest each spring.
The Tombros Research and Education Center is a fully equipped classroom on the lower level of the lighthouse.
Of the 1,500 lighthouses constructed throughout U.S. history, only 779 remain standing today. Greens Ledge is one of just 14 lighthouses still active in Connecticut, and one of very few in the country where one can stay overnight.
Part of that model includes carefully managed access. The lighthouse is not an Airbnb, private club or public park; it is owned and operated by the nonprofit. Major contributors—known as “Keepers”—provide significant financial support and, in return, have limited access to the site. These individuals are trained to manage the lighthouse’s systems, including water production, power and general maintenance. The goal is to ensure that everyone involved shares a commitment to preservation and stewardship.
The lighthouse also serves as a venue for a small number of “Light the Night” events each year. Transportation logistics limit the schedule to about 20 gatherings annually, but these events—along with overnight stays for up-to six people—help sustain ongoing operations.
With roughly 95 percent of the restoration complete, the organization is now focused on expanding its educational mission. A key partnership with SoundWaters, based in Stamford, brings hundreds of students to the lighthouse each summer. The students learn about the history of the lighthouse, the challenges of preservation, and the ecology of Long Island Sound. They also conduct their own fieldwork using specialized equipment.
At the center of this effort is the Tombros Research and Education Center, a dedicated classroom space within the lighthouse. Supported by a major donor, the center includes essential infrastructure such as the desalination system, solar power and a large digital screen, allowing educators to integrate their own marine science curricula on site. Plans are underway to expand programming to additional schools in the region.
For Tim Pettee, the project has been deeply meaningful. “The impact the restoration has had on the community has been the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he notes. “I get asked to get involved elsewhere and I’m happy to share—but Greens Ledge is my love. My wife thinks it’s my mistress and maybe that’s true a lot of time. It’s a passion I didn’t know was in me, but it certainly now is in my DNA.”
