Cos Cob
A few years back a national newspaper (The Wall Street Journal, I think) ran an amusing story about the desperate lengths some Cos Cob residents went to in order to have a “proper” Greenwich address. The local post office refused to cooperate and still does; if you have a Cos Cob zip code, you must publicly admit that you live there. The efforts of those status-deprived homeowners bespeak a prejudice that still exists, for just as there are people who wouldn’t live anywhere but Cos Cob there are some folks who absolutely won’t consider a house there, no matter how nice. I think that’s silly. There are $3,000,000+ homes for sale in the greater Cos Cob area; hardly housing for factory hands. In fact, the factories, bars and red light district that gave Cos Cob it’s taint disappeared around the turn of the last century. I’m not sure how long one should hold a grudge, but surely one hundred years is enough. Even though the average price of a Cos Cob home climbed eighteen percent last year, prices are still less than Riverside and Old Greenwich and relative bargains abound. Go see for yourself.
Street Names
While we’re in the area, may I say something about Hooker Lane, off of Cognewaugh? The Civil War general for whom it is named is more famous for the camp followers who accompanied his soldiers than for his war time accomplishments. Not surprisingly, the street sign is popular with teen-aged boys and has been stolen so many times that it now perches high up on a telephone pole beyond their reach. I seem to remember that the residents wanted to change the name to something (anything) else some years ago but were thwarted by a less-than-unanimous vote. My suggestion to the residents is that they rename it “General Hooker Lane”. That would remove the attractiveness of the street sign, I believe, and probably increase the value of every home on the street by $50,000.00.
Wow!
Julie Church and Sally Maloney, both of Sotheby’s, have a new listing at 25 Close Road (named after an ancestor of Glenn Close, I believe) for $15,950,000. That’s just a smidgeon over a thousand dollars a foot for this huge collection of masonry and is probably about right—I lose all perspective above a certain price range. The home has everything, including a 500 bottle wine cellar, two-story marble columns in the dining room (with a statue of a very stern Roman-looking gentleman staring down—like to see the kid brave enough not to eat his vegetables under that guy’s visage) marble flooring everywhere and what is called a “natatorium with fireplace” which is not, I am informed, a place for roasting gnats on tiny skewers but is instead a fancy Latin word for indoor swimming pool. Who knew? Anyway, it’s all brand new and unlived in. So if you won’t live in Cos Cob,….
Riverside Over-Reaching?
There’s a new listing in Riverside asking for a price that’s about double what anything has previously sold for on that street. That’s not an impossible reach, but I suspect it is for this particular home. Riverside is a distinct neighborhood, similar to Old Greenwich in that it attracts buyers less interested in flash than those in certain other areas of town. This house has been remodeled to have a huge, towering presence but not much else. A few walls knocked down, a lot of unusable space on the new third floor and that’s about it.These days, and for this price, a buyer will expect a master bedroom suite and I think the home’s lack of one will prove discouraging.
Old Greenwich Waterfront
Grace Mccarthy (Shore & Country) has a new listing at 2 Meadow Place right on the water (at high tide, anyway, but low tide brings Egrets, Blue Herons and all sorts of neat wading birds that are even more interesting than plain old water). The house was built in 1953 and hasn’t had much done to it since, but it’s quite nice and the gardens are beautiful. At $2,595,000, the buyer will have an interesting decision; build new or renovate. Any major renovation will bring you under the federal rules for flood zones and you’ll end up, probably, tearing the house down in order to comply with them. But someone content to enjoy a simple house on the water could update the bathrooms and kitchens and then stop, launch a canoe and go catch a striped bass for dinner.
A few years back a national newspaper (The Wall Street Journal, I think) ran an amusing story about the desperate lengths some Cos Cob residents went to in order to have a “proper” Greenwich address. The local post office refused to cooperate and still does; if you have a Cos Cob zip code, you must publicly admit that you live there. The efforts of those status-deprived homeowners bespeak a prejudice that still exists, for just as there are people who wouldn’t live anywhere but Cos Cob there are some folks who absolutely won’t consider a house there, no matter how nice. I think that’s silly. There are $3,000,000+ homes for sale in the greater Cos Cob area; hardly housing for factory hands. In fact, the factories, bars and red light district that gave Cos Cob it’s taint disappeared around the turn of the last century. I’m not sure how long one should hold a grudge, but surely one hundred years is enough. Even though the average price of a Cos Cob home climbed eighteen percent last year, prices are still less than Riverside and Old Greenwich and relative bargains abound. Go see for yourself.
Street Names
While we’re in the area, may I say something about Hooker Lane, off of Cognewaugh? The Civil War general for whom it is named is more famous for the camp followers who accompanied his soldiers than for his war time accomplishments. Not surprisingly, the street sign is popular with teen-aged boys and has been stolen so many times that it now perches high up on a telephone pole beyond their reach. I seem to remember that the residents wanted to change the name to something (anything) else some years ago but were thwarted by a less-than-unanimous vote. My suggestion to the residents is that they rename it “General Hooker Lane”. That would remove the attractiveness of the street sign, I believe, and probably increase the value of every home on the street by $50,000.00.
Wow!
Julie Church and Sally Maloney, both of Sotheby’s, have a new listing at 25 Close Road (named after an ancestor of Glenn Close, I believe) for $15,950,000. That’s just a smidgeon over a thousand dollars a foot for this huge collection of masonry and is probably about right—I lose all perspective above a certain price range. The home has everything, including a 500 bottle wine cellar, two-story marble columns in the dining room (with a statue of a very stern Roman-looking gentleman staring down—like to see the kid brave enough not to eat his vegetables under that guy’s visage) marble flooring everywhere and what is called a “natatorium with fireplace” which is not, I am informed, a place for roasting gnats on tiny skewers but is instead a fancy Latin word for indoor swimming pool. Who knew? Anyway, it’s all brand new and unlived in. So if you won’t live in Cos Cob,….
Riverside Over-Reaching?
There’s a new listing in Riverside asking for a price that’s about double what anything has previously sold for on that street. That’s not an impossible reach, but I suspect it is for this particular home. Riverside is a distinct neighborhood, similar to Old Greenwich in that it attracts buyers less interested in flash than those in certain other areas of town. This house has been remodeled to have a huge, towering presence but not much else. A few walls knocked down, a lot of unusable space on the new third floor and that’s about it.These days, and for this price, a buyer will expect a master bedroom suite and I think the home’s lack of one will prove discouraging.
Old Greenwich Waterfront
Grace Mccarthy (Shore & Country) has a new listing at 2 Meadow Place right on the water (at high tide, anyway, but low tide brings Egrets, Blue Herons and all sorts of neat wading birds that are even more interesting than plain old water). The house was built in 1953 and hasn’t had much done to it since, but it’s quite nice and the gardens are beautiful. At $2,595,000, the buyer will have an interesting decision; build new or renovate. Any major renovation will bring you under the federal rules for flood zones and you’ll end up, probably, tearing the house down in order to comply with them. But someone content to enjoy a simple house on the water could update the bathrooms and kitchens and then stop, launch a canoe and go catch a striped bass for dinner.
posted by Chris Fountain at 10:17 AM
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