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A Classic New England Beach Compound That Comes With a Lighthouse (If You Want It)

The Connecticut estate has two homes available separately or together

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Listing of the Day

Location: Old Saybrook, Connecticut Price: $10.4 million

This classic New England beach compound in the exclusive Fenwick section of Old Saybrook sits on a secluded peninsula with water on three sides, and its own private beach.

It includes a main house and a guest house. Buy them together for $10.4 million, or separately for $6.9 million (main) and $3.5 million (guest). But note, you can’t buy the guest house until the main house, or the whole compound, sells.

The buyer also has the option of becoming co-owner of the iconic Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, which sits at Fenwick Point at the mouth of the Connecticut River. The lighthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is included as the symbol on the state’s "Preserve the Sound" license plates. (If the buyer doesn’t want the lighthouse, the co-owner will take over full ownership.)

"I love that when you walk in the front door to the main house directly in your vista is the lighthouse," said co-listing agent Jane Pfeffer of Jennifer & Jane Associates at William Pitt Sotheby's Realty. "All of the vistas are framed by the lighthouse."

The compound is on Lynde Point, a peninsula in Fenwick with water on three sides—Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River and South Cove—and a long sandy beach that’s private, just for the homeowners there.

"It sits away from the rest of Fenwick, with just six or seven houses," Ms. Pfeffer said. "It’s an unpaved road to get out there."

And you rarely see anyone on the beach, she said. "If you want to be on the beach by yourself, this is the perfect location."

And what a spot to sit and watch the world go by. "There is always a parade of yachts from all over the world going right by your windows," Ms. Pfeffer said. "It’s a live water vista–and they have to go slow there, so you don’t get any noise."

The exterior of the main house has dark green trim and red cedar shingles that age a dark brown. "It’s a very traditional combination that you see a lot of in Fenwick," she said. "It looks very appropriate."

Both houses were built in 2006, but they have a certain lived-in, ageless New England appeal. "Most people think that this is a renovation, that the houses are old," Ms. Pfeffer said.

There are lots of interesting architectural details, including baked oak floors from France, coffered ceilings, palladium windows, bead-board walls and ceilings, and custom paneling with crown mouldings.

More:Click to Read Mark Twain’s Former Connecticut Farmhouse Listed for $1.85 Million

"It’s a fabulous solidly built home with wonderful amenities," Ms. Pfeffer said. "When people look at it, they just sigh, and then they go to the next room and they sigh again."

And, she said, "we’ve had an array of very established CEOs and celebrities interested in the house. We’ve certainly had our share of heavy hitters looking at it."

The Stats

The 7,781-square-foot main house has five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two partial baths. It sits on 1.68 acres. The 2,643-square-foot guest house on the property has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a partial bath. It sits on 0.57 acres.

Amenities

The current owner uses it primarily as a summer home, but the houses are fully winterized, with generators and one working fireplace. For summer, there are screen porches, terraces, a full outdoor kitchen and a widow’s walk on the third floor.

A recently completed boardwalk meanders from the main home through the sea grass to the expansive private beach. 

"All of the bathrooms are beautiful," Ms. Pfeffer said. "The kitchen is to die for, with a custom hood made in Europe, a walnut island and mahogany cabinets, and all Viking appliances. This is a house that was built with no budget."

More:Rare Waterfront Retreat Hits Market in Greenwich for $49 Million

Celebrity Cachet

The late legendary actress Katharine Hepburn lived nearby in Fenwick. In fact, the current owner of the Hepburn house, developer Frank J. Sciame Jr., is the other co-owner of the Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse.

"There are plans to turn the lighthouse into a guest house," Ms. Pfeffer said.

Neighborhood Notes

The compound is very close to Fenwick’s nine-hole golf course, tennis courts and play park for children, Ms. Pfeffer said. "There is also a small yacht club there."

"Fenwick is very, very family oriented," she said. "It’s not unusual to see four generations of the same family in these houses on summer weekends."

Agents: Jane Pfeffer and Jennifer Caulfield, Jennifer & Jane Associates at William Pitt Sotheby's Realty

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