It’s not too hard to find a waterfront home, but how about one with a historic lighthouse also displayed on a state’s license plate?
Designed in the spark-plug style and lit for the first time in 1873, the Outer Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse serves as an important example of a prefabricated cast iron warning tower of shallow water built on a concrete foundation at the mouth of the Connecticut River. A few years ago, when the federal government started selling off its inventory of lighthouses, the owner of the next-door residence purchased it in 50 percent co-ownership with the Coast Guard. The Guard agreed to maintain the light while the homeowner took care of the building’s structure. The lighthouse is featured on Connecticut’s “Preserve the Sound” license plates.
The beach home has all the elements one hopes to find in a seaside abode. Built in 2006, the Victorian exterior blends into the land with its brown shingles, hip and gabled roof, a widow’s walk roof deck with 360-degree views and a chimney built from beach stones. Inside, the space is open and airy. French doors and palladium windows allow the interior to be filled with light. Sited on 2.25 acres, the 7,600-square-foot home has five bedrooms, seven baths, a great room overlooking the water and beach with coffered ceilings and a beach rock fireplace, a chef’s kitchen and a recreation and media room. Outside, a lighted Ipe wood boardwalk leads to the beach, where a mooring is available. Located in a neighborhood called Fenwick, home to Katharine Hepburn’s long-time family home, the private residential enclave also offers a golf course, tennis courts, a small yacht club and access to nearby beaches.
It’s a rare opportunity to be a lighthouse keeper while living in a spacious and airy beach home surrounded by the Long Island Sound, South Cove and the Connecticut River.
Listed for: $12.8 million for the full compound, which comprises a main house and guesthouse, or separately with the main house for $8.9 million and the guesthouse for $3.9 million.
