Peter Kostmayer and Doug Hirn normally had just a few mates across the metropolis who owned second houses in fairly locations. Not being out of doors varieties, they weren’t positive if it was one thing they needed to strive.
“We thought it seemed like a number of work,” mentioned Mr. Hirn, 48. “We additionally didn’t understand how a lot we might use a second place. Attending to and from one dwelling to a different will be difficult.”
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Shortly after they met on-line in 2004, Mr. Kostmayer, 78, and Mr. Hirn moved into Mr. Kostmayer’s West Village condominium, which he’d purchased the earlier 12 months after serving seven phrases as a United States Congressman from Pennsylvania. In 2021, once they bought married, the couple moved to Brooklyn, after which to a three-bedroom rental within the Two Bridges neighborhood on the East Facet of Manhattan.
Step by step, the concept of getting extra out of doors house grew on them. “New York in August is scorching,” mentioned Mr. Kostmayer. “You may’t actually open the home windows. So we thought it might be good simply to get away after we needed to.”
They began desirous about a modest-sized home for round $700,000, ideally within the neighborhood of a city with a direct prepare line to Manhattan, good eating places, and no Hamptons-like visitors or social scene. The couple, who had been keen to spend one other $150,000 on renovations, had been in search of privateness and a spot that had allure or that they may make charming.
“We favored the concept of getting land, form of a buffer round us that we might take a look at,” mentioned Mr. Hirn, a lawyer.
The couple scouted areas in Pennsylvania and the Hudson Valley. Then Mr. Hirn’s Zillow search redirected him to Litchfield, the Connecticut county that hugs New York’s jap border.
Instantly, the alternatives appeared infinite. “Actually, if somebody had mentioned, ‘Why don’t you look in Litchfield County?’ we in all probability would have thought we couldn’t afford it,” mentioned Mr. Hirn. “However we had been pleasantly shocked by the choices we had.”
For steering, they contacted Dave Fairty, a dealer with Regency Actual Property in Watertown, Conn. “Most of my shoppers are sick of the Hamptons scene,” Mr. Fairty mentioned. “The L.I.R.R. commute and the crowds are horrendous. We don’t have that.”
After spending a while exploring the realm, Mr. Kostmayer and Mr. Hirn fell in love with the surroundings. In addition they favored the under-two-hour commute from Grand Central, and that they may park their automotive at a prepare station for $500 a 12 months.
Mr. Fairty took the couple to 3 Litchfield cities: Kent, New Milford and Cornwall.
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