One would guess that real estate agents are a competitive lot. Susan Leone does consider herself competitive, but she also has a cooperative spirit.
Leone, an agent with the Higgins Group-Vanderblue Team, an exclusive affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, believes the success of one agent reflects well on all other agents, regardless of what real estate company they represent.
Her philosophy led to a townwide, multiple-agent and agency open house in Easton last month that met with rave reviews; so much so that it will be repeated Sunday, May 22, from 1 to 4 p.m., with 19 houses in a range of styles, sizes, and price points. In April, agents conducted 21 brokers’ tours on a Tuesday and 15 public open houses on a Sunday afternoon, drawing a larger number of prospective buyers into the town than at the more typical individual open house events.
“I wanted it to be cooperative because agents do work cooperatively,” said Leone, who has several houses in the event today, including a 10-room colonial at 425 Black Rock Road on the market for $1,298,000, and a home at 260 Everett Road.
“It’s a concerted effort. I think it’s an excellent idea to promote the town,” said Joanne Wise, an agent with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, whose open house is at a colonial at 401 North Park Ave., a 10-room, 4,116-square-foot house priced at $979,900.
Barbara Babcock, of Riverside Realty, said the theory behind the townwide open house is simple: “The more people we can bring out, the better for the buyers, the agents and the homeowners.”
Prospective home buyers will have an opportunity to see multiple houses in one afternoon, which will give them a chance to compare one house to another and see the value Easton has to offer, said Babcock, whose open house is at a 2,910 square-foot, nine-room colonial Tudor house at 100 Burroughs Road listed at $725,000. This house has a clapboard, stone and stucco exterior.
Leone hopes the event will bring people to Easton and put Easton on the map. “It gives people more of a reason to come to town, whether they’re agents or buyers. Easton sells itself once people get here and see the value, the school system, the privacy, the land,” she said.
“You get a lot of house for your dollar,” said Wise, adding that people will see they can buy in Easton and not feel like they are at the end of the world despite the small town’s rural character. The town has some of the region’s last working farms.
“You get off the Merritt Parkway and start driving north, either on Sport Hill Road or Black Rock Road, and within a couple of miles of Fairfield you feel like you’re in Vermont,” Leone said.
The town has acres of forest, including the protected Trout Brook Valley, owned by the Aspetuck Land Trust. Trout Brook has hiking and equestrian trails. The hiking trails range from easy to hard.
The houses on North Park Avenue, Black Rock Road and Burroughs Road are indicative of the typical Easton home. All three have properties of more than three acres, all three have fireplaces, and all three have septic systems and well water. The Black Rock house has a floor-to-ceiling mortar-less fireplace in its great room.
This is a nontraditional colonial. It is large, with 4,632 square feet of living space, plus another 2,656 square feet in the full, unfinished basement, and yet it has a cottage feel to it. It was originally built as a weekend retreat for a Manhattan family, but in the last decade has been a year-round residence. Among its unusual features are an organic garden on one side of the house, alarmed window screens, and a reverse osmosis water filtration system.
The Burroughs Road home that Babcock represents is a waterfront property with direct frontage on a pond that is filled with bass. This property also has an in-ground pool, as does the Black Rock home.
There is a 7,000 square-foot brick colonial on a private 5.58 acres included in the open house, represented by Jeannette Dryburgh of William Raveis Real Estate. A 1,664 square-foot colonial at 189 Banks Road, represented by Amy Waugh Curry of Prudential Connecticut Realty, is offered at $498,000.
For more information about Susan Leone’s listings, call her at 203-209-2075 or email her at susan@vanderblueteam.com. For Joanne Wise, call 203-521-8153 or email her at jwise@wpsir.com. For Barbara Babcock, call 203-246-6300 or email her at BabcockB@TheRiversideRealtyGroup.com.
EASTON TAX RATE: 22.40 mills
LIST of PARTICIPATING HOUSES:
60 Gate Ridge Road
260 Rock House Road
401 North Park Ave.
315 Silver Hill Road
100 Burroughs Road
260 Everett Road
71 Deerfield Drive
425 Black Rock Road
56 Northwood Drive
56 Deepwood Road
28 Country Club Lane
59 Woodland
48 Norton Road
36 Ballwall Road
82 Rock House Road
189 Banks Road
7 Senior Drive
172 Twin Lanes
120 Norton Road