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A Broker's Dream Come True

By: Ellen Sherman
Published: 7/28/2006Source: Hamptons Cottages & Gardens

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you turn a corner and have that “Oh, my!” moment.  That’s how Corcoran broker Nancy Howell feels when she’s near Jeffries Lane, a tiny street behind East Hampton’s Town Pond.  There, overlooking a verdant expanse of lawn and water, is Howell’s favorite site.  “I love this property because it’s just so beautiful and private.  Lots of houses are fantastic with gorgeous views, but this has ocean and pond views and it’s totally secluded.  That’s what makes it so amazing.”  The street is home to only eight houses and Howell’s favorite sits underneath a gorgeous copper beech.  The wrap-around porches and white clapboard exterior all hearken back to gracious estates from a quieter, gentler time.  The approximately four-acre property not only overlooks the ocean, but a bucolic body of water called Hook Pond.  While Gin Lane or Lily Pond Lane may be better known, Howell prefers this because its location is devoid of street traffic and therefore absent of that summertime high-energy buzz that other properties must tolerate.  “When I drive clients by this street, they always say, ‘Oh, what’s down here?’ Then when they see this house, they say, ‘Oh, my God!” It’s that wonderful.”  The house, probably built in the 1920s, is kept in pristine condition.  “The outside is beautifully kept up, so I can just imagine what the inside must be like,” says Howell.  She’s not likely to find out.  The family in residence has lived there happily for over 20 years and shows no signs of decamping.  If they were to put it on the market, Howell says it could fetch as much as $20 million.  Still, she can dream.  “It’s such a secret, peaceful place,” she says.  “I don’t care if I can sell it, I just love driving by.”  Most of us can relate to that feeling.

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