New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Branford waterfront home is about a lifestyle
Featuring “top shelf” views of the Pine Orchard Yacht and Country Club and the Thimble Islands, this home denotes a certain lifestyle.
According to Christine Redden, co-listing agent for Real Living Wareck D’Ostilio, the main feature of the home is its location in a cozy neighborhood a couple houses past the club, overlooking the harbor.
“So you get to watch the boats going in and out all day long,” she said.
Rebuilt in 1983 by Daniel William Owens Jr., the current yearround home was constructed in the footprint of the original 1895cottage.
The family has a picture of the cottage back in its day, when Pine Orchard was a stop for the New York Yacht Club, which would visit the area every summer on annual cruises, said seller Bill Owens.
Owens Jr., according Owens, who is son, had the home redesigned by an architect and incorporated an open floor plan with high ceilings and laminated beams.
“It was custom designed for my father,” Owens said. “He loved to entertain and it really suited itself well to that.”
Entering into the foyer, one encounters a cathedral ceiling with a skylight and views of the water from a wall of windows that let sun pour into the living room and cascade into the rest of the open area.
To the left is the kitchen, with a white tile floor and custom oak cabinets.
To the side of the kitchen are the dining and living rooms with oak floors, a dry bar, a fireplace and the wall of windows with a slider to the bluestone patio overlooking the seawall and private beach.
There’s also a room that could be used as a den or office and a first floor laundry room.
A staircase and elevator go to the second floor, where the master suite offers plenty of closets, including a large walk-in closet, and a bath with a Jacuzzi tub, stand up shower, bidet and two sinks and vanities. The glass front porch off the master captures the morning sun.
“The views are magnificent,” Owens said. “The view is top shelf, I mean that’s what you’re buying and that’s what you’re getting.”
He described the scene with the country club and marina and the Thimble Islands, including the Tudor mansion on Rogers Island.
The third floor contains another suite, with a large bedroom, a full bath, an office and a dormer with a slider to a private deck.
“My father, he used to entertain there quite a bit and he would have people in the third floor suite,” Owens said. “The third floor suite lends itself to entertaining perfectly.”
Owens Jr. and his guests would walk to the club and have a few drinks looking out at the harbor, realizing “life is good,” his son said.
The house has a small attached garage where Owens Jr. parked his golf cart.
“They used to just walk from the house over to Pine Orchard
Country Club and have dinner at the club,” Owens said. “It was a lifestyle choice.”
Owens Jr. also kept a boat at the marina and Owens would sail his boat right up to the beach, pick his father up and take him for a ride.
The area is also “the perfect spot to go kayaking through the Thimble Islands,” according to Redden.
The country club offers dining, golfing, tennis and swimming to members and has walking trails.
When Owens Jr, turned 85, they loaded 40 of his friends and family onto the Sea Mist for a tour of the Thimble Islands. When they returned, they dined at the club.