New listing on Ledge Road, Old Greenwich

16 Ledge Road, priced at $4.250 million. I won’t vouch for that price — might be spot-on, might be a tad high, but this is a grand old (1899) summer house, converted to year-round use long ago, and a real prize. One of the previous owners’ daughters was, and still is, my Sarah’s best friend, and I had occasion over the years to come to know at least the public rooms, and was hugely impressed.

I’m not sure of its flood status — I suspect that at least part of the house may be included in that portion of the property included in the VE zone, in which case, per elevation certificate, there may be a compliance problem. Certainly something to investigate.

But everything good comes at a price. A year after beautifully renovating this house in 2007, a house around the corner on Indian Drive came on the market: direct waterfront, and the original owners sold Ledge and bought the waterfront. A few years after that, during one of our more significant storms a storm surge pushed its way through the Indian Drive home’s ground floor, causing damage that evicted the family for six months while repairs were made. The father of Sarah’s friend was philosophical: “if you can’t afford to take the hit, you shouldn’t live on the water” (did I mention that he’s got (a lot, lot more money than I have?). But the view, from the front door, through the living room to a glass wall framing Long Island Sound was, and now is again, awesome, and I both agreed with the owner, and envied his financial ability to absorb the calamity.

None of which applies to 16 Ledge Road, of course, which is somewhat inland; I’m just indulging in a bit of philosophical musing about life near the water. No fifteen-foot waves are going to smash through 16 Ledge, though there’s always the possibility of being marooned for a few days during the next major hurricane. That’s a risk I’d accept, could I afford it, to live on Ledge.

Nice house, excellent neighborhood.\