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Havens Woodbury, Conn.
Antiques and Classic New England Peace and Quiet
Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times
Main Street in Woodbury is free of chain stores and full of Colonial houses.
By DIANE MEHTA
Published: April 11, 2008
WOODBURY, Conn., has long been a hub for antiques dealers, but it is also emerging from the shadow of chic neighbors as a weekend destination, residents and real estate agents say.
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Woodbury, Conn.
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Three for Sale
By DIANE MEHTA
Published: April 11, 2008
WOODBURY, Conn., has long been a hub for antiques dealers, but it is also emerging from the shadow of chic neighbors as a weekend destination, residents and real estate agents say.
Map
Woodbury, Conn.
Graphic
Three for Sale
A town of Colonials, ponds and deep woods, Woodbury sits in the southernmost part of Litchfield County, and — most significant for potential second-home owners — its property prices are significantly lower than those in nearby towns like Roxbury and Washington.
Carol and Dan Brachfeld, who live in Manhattan, owned a weekend home in Washington for 18 years, but once their children left home, they decided they wanted a pool, more land and privacy. Priced out of Washington, they bought a three-bedroom Federal-style house with an outdoor pool in Woodbury for $600,000 in 2004. “Woodbury enabled us to be in an area we loved — with lovely river beds, walking trails and hiking trails,” Ms. Brachfeld said.
Tricia and Rob Brown, who also live in Manhattan, bought a three-bedroom midcentury modern in spring 2007 for more than $500,000. The house aside, they were sold on the property itself: four acres planted with formal gardens and apple, peach and cherry trees.
“It’s an alternate universe kind of life,” Ms. Brown said. “Having the garden, my daughter Maya — who’s 5 — sees for the first time that food doesn’t come from Fairway and Zabar’s.” The Browns grow herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and green beans.
The Scene
For several miles along Route 6, or Main Street, there are barns and shops filled with antiques and their dealers, from Monique Shay Antiques & Design, with French-Canadian armoires, to Grass Roots Antiques, which has a full range of bric-a-brac, like sterling silver flatware and vintage tea sets.
“When you drive in, there’s five white clapboard churches, like ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ on Main Street, and since no chains are allowed, it’s all mom-and-pop shops,” said Bernadette Verzosa, who, with her husband, Len Cannon, bought a place on six acres in 2000 for about $500,000, which they visited most weekends when they lived in Manhattan.
They now live in Texas, and they come mostly in summer. “Our property is next to Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust,” she said, “so we basically have hundreds of acres and a guarantee that nothing will ever be built around us.”
Many weekenders maintain an active social life in town. And Ms. Brachfeld finds that Woodbury’s atmosphere lends itself to intimacy. “The part of our life that brings us back to our relationship and relationships is the country,” she said.
J. David Veselsky, the former owner of Mill House Antiques, who moved to Woodbury in 1964, said: “Back then, there were only two other antique shops and a lot of farmland. But the center of town hasn’t changed a lot — the whole town is on the National Register. More people are coming in, but there’s still a very strong feeling of community.”
In classic New England fashion, Woodbury, settled in 1673, started as a farming community, then in the 1850s gave way to small factories. Main Street and its outlying arteries are on the National Register of Historic Places for settlements that date from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and many of the Colonial houses and structures along Main Street date from before 1830.
Residents gather at Constantine’s Restaurant (Friday pot roast, $13.95; Saturday prime rib, $18.95) for hearty food, and at Ovens of France, a bakery run by Dennis Niez, a native of Normandy, for fresh baguettes ($2.75) and cinnamon buns ($1.85).
Outdoor activities, from trail walking to swimming, abound at the town’s three parks. Many people head to the Flanders nature sanctuaries to hike and watch birds. The nonprofit group owns about 1,900 acres in and around Woodbury. And with the three rivers in town — the Weekeepeemee, Nonnewaug and Pomperaug — there’s kayaking, too.
In spring and fall, those three rivers are stocked with trout by the state, said Jenifer Miller, director of the Woodbury Parks and Recreation Department.
And there’s plenty of fishing, says Woody Mosch, a devoted fly-fisherman and furniture maker in nearby Bethlehem, “whether you’re into fishing for the stock to take home for dinner, or really getting off the beaten path for the little native brookies still alive and well in feeder streams through northern Woodbury and Bethlehem.”
Pros
Flanders Nature Center and Land Trust ensures that much of the town’s open space will never be developed. The trust also runs activities aimed at families year round.
For those concerned about where their food comes from, New Morning Natural and Organic Foods stocks organic produce and meat. Its owner, John Pittari, says the store gets its grass-fed beef and eggs from local suppliers. LaBonne grocery store carries the essentials, and farm stands pop up around town in season.
Cons
For those smitten by the town’s classic New England peace and quiet, a large commercial development with multiple buildings just approved for the southern end of Main Street is not welcome news.
The Real Estate Market
Woodbury’s housing stock is varied, and includes saltboxes, Capes, Colonials, farmhouses and English-style country houses.
The market has been static since late 2006, local real estate agents say. From 2002 to 2005, according to the Connecticut Multiple Listing Service, houses in Woodbury sold for an average of $425,800. Sales dipped in 2006, but the average cost of a home rose to $537,200. Maria Taylor, an agent at Klemm Real Estate, says you can spend anywhere from $449,000 for a two-bedroom Colonial to $1.39 million for a four-bedroom mid-20th-century Cape.
Houses are staying on the market for about 10 months, two months longer than they were in 2006, according to The Commercial Record, a real estate trade publication. But Joyce Drakeley, who has her own real estate business, said: “If you price it right, it’s going to sell immediately. And anything under $550,000 is going to move.”
Several real estate agents work with speculative developers. Ralph Corbo Jr., founder of the Corbo Group, is building seven houses at Owl Ridge. When the first is complete, in late May, Klemm Real Estate will represent his firm to sell the seven shingle-style residences, which start at $1,150 million for a four-bedroom, 4,400-square-foot house.
Sotheby’s International Realty and Moisan Architecture of Woodbury represent Aisling Meadows, which has 20 lots of one to two acres. Four-bedroom, three-and-half-bath houses are listing for $1.285 million. Condominiums are a better deal. There are seven condo complexes in Woodbury, and prices start at $140,000 for a two-bedroom ranch unit at the Town & Country complex.
LAY OF THE LAND
POPULATION 9,757, according to a 2006 Census Bureau estimate.
SIZE 36.7 square miles.
WHO’S BUYING Professionals and Wall Streeters from New York City, in addition to Connecticut residents.
GETTING THERE In the southernmost part of Litchfield County, Woodbury sits on Route 6 in western Connecticut. The town is one and a half hours from Manhattan by car.
WHILE YOU’RE LOOKING Longwood Country Inn (1204 Main Street South, 203-266-0800; http://www.longwoodcountryinn.com/) has antiques-filled rooms that start at $150.
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