Rich cribs: Oyster Bay Cove home on the Woodward Estate, and more
An Oyster Bay Cove home, now on the market for $2,199,000, sits on what was once part of the Woodward Estate where, in 1955, William Woodward Jr., son of the chairman of New York's Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company, was shot and killed by his wife Ann. She thought he was an intruder and a grand jury believed her. Dominick Dunne based his novel, "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" on the tragedy. It was later made into a TV movie. (2013) Credit: Handout
GARDENS GALORE. An Oyster Bay Cove home, now on the market for $2,199,000, sits on what once was part of the Woodward Estate, where, in 1955, William Woodward Jr., son of the chairman of New York’s Central Hanover Bank and Trust Co., was shot and killed by his wife, Ann. (The couple in happier times, at left.)
She said she thought he was an intruder, and a grand jury believed her. Dominick Dunne based his novel “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” on the case. It was later made into a TV movie.
Karen Albucker, listing agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, says the Williamsburg-style brick Colonial, built in 1988, has six bedrooms, four bathrooms and two half-baths. It features four wood-burning fireplaces, a banquet-size dining room, formal living room, eat-in kitchen with a stairway leading to the second floor and a den with a 20-foot ceiling.
Five of the bedrooms have walk-in closets. The homeowner is a horticulturist who landscaped the 2.67-acre parcel so there is something in bloom year-round. Some of the trees from the original estate’s orchard can be found on the grounds.
“It is one of the most beautiful properties I have ever seen,” Albrucker says. Other features include a brick veranda, in-ground gunite pool, formal garden and attached, two-car garage. -- Virginia Dunleavy
ALL IN THE FAMILY. Henry S. Mott, owner of the Henry S. Mott Real Estate and Insurance Exchange in Northport, was the agent of record for a home that sold in the late 1800s for $7,000.
Last week, that same home was sold again, this time for $1,049,000, by Mott’s great-granddaughter, Jacquie Lewisy of Signature Premier Properties. Signature’s Donna Spinoso-Gelb brought the buyer.
It seems real estate is in Lewisy’s blood, which she discovered when she found her great-grandfather’s real estate book in her grandmother’s basement six years ago.
“I knew my great- grandfather had something to do with insurance and the bank, but finding that book was when I realized he was in real estate,” says Lewisy. “The book was written in the late 1880s, and it’s like a Multiple Listings site, but in book form. As things sold, he would just cross them out.”
The four-bedroom, 4.5-bath Victorian on Highland Avenue, which just went into contract, was built and sold in 1895. It is one of several Victorian properties in Northport that Lewisy’s great-grandfather brokered. These days, Lewisy always checks the antique ledger to see if she has a connection to any homes on the market.
Lewisy has another property that appears in her secret book -- a 22-acre parcel on Duck Island that includes a 15-bedroom, eight-bath, two-half-bath Swedish-style manor house that is about to be relisted for $8 million, after being off the market for a while and getting redecorated.
Lewisy’s great-grandfather sold the original 47-acre property for $25,000 in the 1920s and her grandfather installed the boiler. “When I told the family about my connection, it was a done deal. I just had to be the agent,” says Lewisy. -- Lara Ewen
