A quick search of the listings in East Hampton and Southampton returns a wide variety of homes for sale for around a million dollars. In this range, there are tidy cottages in good locations, older homes on small lots close to town, large new homes farther out of town on larger lots and ancient contemporaries.
This house on Newberry Lane might be called a “new traditional,” although it was built in 1984 and is about 20 years old. The house is located fairly close to the Village of Southampton, just north of the Southampton bypass, near the Jitney station. It’s a very quick ride to all the village has to offer.
Newberry Lane is a cul-de-sac with little traffic, and this lot, which is a half acre, backs up to a large lot owned by the Suffolk County Water Authority. Backing up to municipal property can be a good thing, as various governmental authorities often own large lots which are lightly used, but they pose a danger as well as they are generally not subject to the same zoning restrictions that require buildings to be set back from property lines or designed in harmony with their surroundings. It’s an enduring irony that the same governmental authorities that are so insistent upon homeowners following strict building codes are often exempt from, and generally ignore, these types of regulations.
The design of this house is conservative and likely to be marketable for a long time. It’s a simple farmhouse, approximately 2,000 square feet, with a wrap-around porch, four bedrooms and three baths. The rooms aren’t very large, but they are simply and attractively finished, with a nice fireplace as the center of the living area, an up-to-date kitchen and simple, bright, white trim throughout.
Outside, there is a nice lawn, deck and pool. A simple, well-designed traditional with a nice pool that is not too far from town is likely to be a very safe bet for a long time. In fact, this house last sold in 1999 for $385,000 and this sale represents a solid return over the years of over 7 percent.
This type of property may not attract the attention of every buyer. In many ways, it is rather ordinary. But one could make far worse real estate choices with $1 million.
on Apr 7, 2013