Second Homes

"Second-home buyers look for what they don't have in their primary situation," said Cee Scott Brown, senior vice president and associate broker for the Corcoran Group. "Urban dwellers are looking for the pastoral, the bucolic, the country, the beach, the getaway ¬in short, a lifestyle that they can't have where they live and work full-time."

Brown is showing an artfully renovated, four-bedroom, three-bath cottage with a heated Gunite pool on a 2A-acre lot down a sleepy dead-end road at 22 Maple Lane, just off Noyack Bay in Sag Harbor. The $2,995,000 property comes with a dock on the bay and a tranquil lifestyle. "The current owners did a modern spin on what was once a tiny ranch cottage," continued Brown, "and it has a lot to offer for someone from the city looking to chill. It feels like the Hamptons of the 1950s in its simplicity and lack of density. It is in move-in condition, and that is what a lot of buyers demand."

Another striking second home, this one at 18 Dogwood Hills Road in Pound Ridge, was designed by the late Vuko Tashkovich, the architect and builder who built 28 of his 57 distinctive modernist homes in this exclusive Westchester community an hour from Manhattan. Inspired by Le Corbusier, the 5.82-acre property is adjacent to a 280-acre nature conservancy, and offers a striking double-height living room, private gardens, swimming pool and tennis court - and complete privacy. The walls and vistas are designed to display the art of the current owner, a philanthropist and art collector living on New York's Fifth Avenue. "They entertain constantly, and the house, which is all on one floor, is ideal for accommodating guests," explained Bonnie Hut Yaseen, broker with Fox Residential in Manhattan. "It is designed in split wings, so the guests can come and go as they please. It is a sophisticated retreat, perfect for someone living in Manhattan who wants to entertain in style on the weekends." The 4,282-square-foot, four-bedroom home, with a butterfly roof and pool to match, first went on sale at $2,995,000 - and is now priced at $2.5 million.

About 90 minutes from Manhattan and an hour from Philadelphia, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, is another area known for second homes of the centuries-old stone farmhouse variety. Grace's Pond is a 20-acre property that is quintessential Bucks County, said Nancy Ahlum, associate broker with Carol C. Dorey Real Estate: "If you called us and said, 'We are ready to buy a house in Bucks County' - and asked for an old stone house from the 1700s down a long driveway far off the main road with a stream, a pool with a pool house, a couple of bridges over the stream, and a pond with an island, a barn and a little studio above a garage for a workspace - this is it. 'Oh, and we'd like to have it all updated and restored because we don't have time.' This is still it."

Barns are a rare find these days, added Ahlum, and a well-maintained one is a joy. "Stone farmhouses with wide-planked floors and a barn from the 1800s and even earlier are what people come to Bucks County for, and what is great about this one is that both have been refurbished. The main house has everything you need for today, with a luxurious master bathroom and wonderful kitchen with Carrera marble, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and wonderful cooking space with slate floors and repointed stone walls in the inside." Grace's Pond is listing for $1,495,000.

A second Bucks County stone farmhouse, about 10 minutes away from New Hope at 339 Thompson Mill Road in Upper Makefield Township, is being marketed for $2,195,000. With a property of just over 12 acres, this five-bedroom home comes with a barn that incorporates two horse stables, a tack room and equipment storage - and above that, two large artist's studios. In addition, there is another detached carriage house barn with a loft above. At just $14,600 a year, the taxes are relatively low. Said Norm Troxel, a broker with NT. Callaway, "We get a lot of buyers from New York and New Jersey who want to escape the taxes there, which are three or four times what they are here."

Orient Express Hotels is entering the second-home market with two developments on the island of St. Martin - one on the French side, one on the Dutch. The Villas at La Samanna are an exclusive collection of eight different expansive, light-filled villas, each with its own wraparound infinity swimming pool. The outdoor space - with loggias and terraces that extend off the living rooms, dining room and guest bedrooms brings the total to 7,000 square feet of living space. "You can literally swim all around the edge of the terrace from the guest bedroom terrace, past the living room terrace all the way over to the dining room terrace," noted Phillip A. Gesue, vice president, director of global real estate for Orient Express Hotels, Inc. The villa prices are $5.6 to $6.2 million.

 Orient Express is also managing Porto Cupecoy, a 184-residence condominium community not far from La Samanna on the island's Dutch side. Modeled after Portofino, Porto Cupecoy's giant piazza is surrounded by a 60-slip marina. The development, which features apartments and penthouses with ample outdoor space ranging in price from $400,000 to $1.65 million, is now open for business, with a third of the buyers already moved in. One advantage of Porto Cupecoy is that there are no real estate taxes on the Dutch side of the island. "That effectively lowers the cost of ownership significantly:' added Gesue.”Then there are additional favorable income tax and capital gains tax treatments on the island that can help investors."

The other advantage for second-home buyers is maintenance and upkeep for absentee owners. "One reason this area is so desirable as a secondary residence is when residents leave, the property is fully attended to and managed:' said Gesue."If you leave for three months, there is someone to look after the property when you are gone." Orient Express can also rent an absentee owner's apartment or villa through the hotel's rental program. "In some cases, owners can receive $10,000 a night for renting their villa when they rent through Orient Express's global network," said Gesue. "In the past, Orient Express has brought in guests for Christmas week who have rented villas for $70,000."