Old vibe meets new in this Colonial-style traditional home, which, at first glance looks like an iconic East End historic home, but built in 1989, has modern infrastructure and conveniences.
Sitting on just under .4 acres, this 2,264-square-foot home on North Midway Road on Shelter Island is a eighteenth-century lookalike with its classic form, multipaned windows and, in the interior, traditional touches such as wainscoting paneling, wooden trims and five-inch wide-plank oak floors.
Penelope Moore, the Saunders & Associates listing agent representing the house, says the home was designed to replicate an historic home that one might have seen in the late 1700’s to early 1800’s—”a little bit of old Americana,” starting with the distinctive red exterior paint and wood shingled roof.
“The father of the current owners, who designed and had the house built, loved history,” she says. “The whole family has a love of the arts: writing, painting, music and ceramics, all of which is reflected when you visit the home.”
The house is entered through a handsome center foyer featuring a wooden banister to the second level. To the left, the 313-square-foot living room extends from the front of the house to the back, and has a raised-hearth woodburning fireplace. From the living room, you can access the backyard deck and the open-plan dining and kitchen area, where the wainscoting theme is continued.
The 125-square-foot dining area has a cast-iron wood-burning stove set in an inglenook and French doors leading to the deck, making it a fluid indoor/outdoor space for entertaining. The terra-cotta-tiled floor unites the dining area with the 121-square-foot kitchen, which features a stainless appliance suite by Frigidaire, including an electric stove. Cabinets are wooden and topped with Formica. Just off the kitchen are the laundry room, a half bath and access to the recently built outdoor shower.
To the right of the center foyer is a 140-square-foot home office/ library with built-in shelves and glass French doors and ample windows looking to the front and side of the home. Each of the first-floor rooms have different styles of doors that Moore calls “both practical and aesthetically pleasing.”
All four bedrooms are on the second floor surrounding the center-hall staircase. The primary bedroom is the only ensuite bedroom, with 200 square feet devoted to the sleeping area and a generous 50-square-foot walk in closet. The other three bedrooms are nearly identical in size—nearly 120 square foot—and they share the hallway windowed bathroom with a separation between the shower and toilet and the vanity sink.
The unfinished 876-square-foot basement has a concrete, poured foundation and is currently used as a ceramics studio.
The owners kept the exterior simple and in keeping with the architectural aesthetic: a fieldstone barbecue and outdoor dining area, a canopy over the back deck and a simple wild-flower garden. Set back from the road, the home is surrounded by a canopy of mature trees; at the front are low flowering shrubs and a Japanese maple tree provides a visual statement in the yard. The circular gravel driveway can fit as many as eight cars: The garage, added in 2011, and barn each can fit a car. The barn is currently used for other storage, has electric; Moore says activating it for other use would require permits and town approvals, depending on the plans.
The home is 1.4 miles to the Heights and the North Ferry; less than a mile to Sylvester Manor, a historic, organic educational farm that offers field trips, activities such as yoga, and youth programming; and Gardiner’s Creek, site of a park and preserve with hiking and nature trails open to the public.
This modern Colonial home at 81 North Midway road lists for $1,750,000 and the details can be see here.
