TODAY MY SISTER AND I wandered the streets of Pine Neck, a bayfront community about three miles west of Sag Harbor, on the north shore of Long Island’s South Fork.
It should by rights be called Oak Neck for the towering trees that define the neighborhood; it’s not all that piney, but someone must have thought Pine Neck sounded better.
The area’s cottages, each unique, seem to be mostly of 1940s vintage.
With few signs of encroaching development, it looks more or less as it did in the days before rock’n’roll.
We looked last night at some real-estate listings, which confirmed that one thing has changed since the Andrews Sisters ruled the air waves: the prices. The active listings seem to start at about 400K for the smaller, non-waterfront cottages and ascend from there.
The unusually large (for the area) waterfront property in the two pictures above sold last year for $1.1million.
Most of the houses are on small lots (about one-tenth of an acre), neither derelict nor overly spiffed up. The house below is an exception.
I’m guessing many of them are still owned by the families that first bought or built them.
There are few visible ‘For Sale’ signs. The houses below are not necessarily on the market; they’re the ones that caught my eye as we rambled, for one reason or another.
The sandy beach on Noyac Bay, below, is the reason a community of summer cottages sprung up in this particular spot. None of the houses are more than a few minutes’ walk away.
Here are a few of the coveted bayfront cottages:
And some of the local denizens:
This is my sister’s adorable pea-green rental, below, recently renovated and kitted out with mid-20th century furniture.
casaCARA 