We’ve seen this happen before: a house is priced very ambitiously at the beginning, no one buys, and then the price is gradually cut and chopped away, eventually hitting a reasonable level, but somehow the place seems like a laggard on the market and still doesn’t sell. Eventually the price gets so low we’re scratching our heads.
Now, $18.75 million for this Sag Harbor place, known as the Nathan P. Howell House, was ambitious back in 2017. But since then, as we alluded, the price has dwindled to $10.9 million, which seems eminently reasonable, Covid or not. (Heck, the place sold in 2014 for $9.75 million.) The house is the largest on Captain’s Row, with 10,000 square feet of space, and the property is also large at 1.1 acres.
The house was built in 1833 by Nathan P. Howell, from a wealthy whaling family, in the Greek Revival style. About twenty years later, Mr. Howell enlarged and renovated his house into the then-fashionable Italianate style. The house stayed in the family until the 1970s. Now it is upgraded for the twenty first century, but retains most of its period charm. There are four levels of living space (with an elevator) and a widow’s walk with amazing views of Sag Harbor.
There are seven bedrooms, eight and a half bathrooms, arched entries throughout, nine fireplaces, and two staircases. Outside, there’s hedged landscaping for privacy, a gunite pool, and a climate-controlled garage with an attached art studio.
The property is repped by Susan Breitenbach and Cutter Koster at Corcoran. We think it’s a good buy now.
- 238 Main Street [Corcoran]
238 Main St, Sag Harbor, NY 11963
