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By: Brent Runyon
Published: 05/04/12
A Penzance Point estate is on the market for $14.85 million, which would be a new record for a property in Falmouth if it sells for that amount.
Seven Winds at 123 Penzance Road is a Cape Cod, shingle-style home built in 1900, with seven bedrooms on one-and-a-half acres with expansive water views. There is also a separate two-bedroom beach house and 400 feet of private beach on Buzzards Bay and a deep-water dock on Great Harbor. It is listed with Jack Cotton and Pat Thatcher at Sotheby’s International Realty.
“It was built around the turn of the century, and they kept all that charm and all that ambiance,” but it is also upgraded with modern luxuries and amenities, Mr. Cotton said. “There’s not a thing you would change on this house,” he said.
“It is just a magical house,” Ms. Thatcher added. “It is probably one of the only homes anywhere that you can watch beautiful sunsets and beautiful sunrises.”
The house came on the market last month and is generating interest from buyers, Mr. Cotton said. He planned to show the property twice this week. “It doesn’t really get much better than Penzance Point,” Mr. Cotton said.
Because it is so unique, Ms. Thatcher anticipated it would move quickly off the market. “We think it is just perfect,” she said. “Every single room has views of Buzzards Bay or Great Harbor in Woods Hole.”
It is probably one of the only homes anywhere that you can watch beautiful sunsets and beautiful sunrises.
– Pat Thatcher of Sotheby’s
The current owners of Seven Winds, Eric and Marianne Billings of Potomac, Maryland, bought the estate for $1.7 million in 1994. Mr. Billings is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer for Arlington Asset Investment Corporation and the chairman of the board for FBR Capital Markets Corporation, both based in Arlington, Virginia, according to Forbes.com.
The property is currently assessed by the town for $5.28 million, resulting in $44,440 in property taxes in Fiscal Year 2012.
The listing price is a new record for a property in Falmouth, said Falmouth Town Assessor David A. Bailey. “It is a sort of pioneering amount of money for these sorts of properties,” he said.
If Seven Winds does sell for close to the listing price, Mr. Bailey said the town will likely recalculate the assessments for the other Penzance Point properties. “It would certainly cause us to reexamine those properties,” he said. “It’s not very often that a property like that goes on the market.”
The record sale price for a property in Falmouth was $12.5 million for a 4.2-acre estate at 42 Penzance Road in 2006. Also in 2006, an estate on Fay Road in Woods Hole sold for $10.5 million, he said.
Setting the price for Seven Winds involved comparing all the elements of the property to other estates that have sold in the area, Mr. Cotton said. “We try to be very careful and not overprice things,” he said.
The previous record for a listing price is the former Whitney Estate on Church Street in Woods Hole, which has been listed for $14 million for more than a year. “We weren’t trying to beat them, but I guess we did,” Mr. Cotton said.
There is also a property at 55 Windhover Way on Penzance Point currently on the market for $10 million.
“Having anything in eight figures on the market is unusual,” Mr. Bailey said, let alone three properties in the same village.
While some areas of the housing market have remained sluggish, high-end properties like the ones in Woods Hole are selling all over the world, he said. During his 38-year career, Mr. Cotton has sold two properties in Osterville for $12.5 million, but selling Seven Winds for the listing price would also be a personal record. “I love records,” he said.
“My opinion is that people see properties like this as the other gold; that’s how rare this kind of real estate is,” Mr. Cotton said. “People in the high-end real estate market know that this is a great time to put money here.”
The highest property assessment anywhere in Falmouth is also on Penzance Road. The Long House at 87 Penzance Road on 10.3 acres is assessed for $13 million and is owned by the Mellon family trust.
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