Brentwood's central location, affordability drawing buyers

High ranches are the most popular, she said. “The smaller houses are usually less desirable, but people are taking whatever they can get today.”

Homes, including Capes, Victorians and newly built Colonials, range from about $390,000 to $700,000, said Sidney Rodriguez, an agent with Keller Williams Points North and a lifelong Brentwood resident, who touts the hamlet as being “centrally convenient.”

“You go 15 minutes north and you're in Sunken Meadow State Park, and less than 15 miles to the south you're in Robert Moses,” Rodriguez said. “And living here you’re in the middle of three towns that have industrial parks so if you’re commuting to the city, we’re the third stop going west so you have a chance of a good seat. We’re only an hour’s drive to the city and about an hour and a half to the Hamptons.”      

Brentwood also has a diverse business community, with varied dining and shopping choices to be found on Suffolk Avenue, Brentwood Road and Washington Avenue.

Brentwood State Park, a 52-acre athletic field complex behind Suffolk County Community College, sits on the former site of Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, with two baseball diamonds and eight artificial turf soccer fields. There’s also a state-of-the-art spray park at Roberto Clemente Park and a golf course, clubhouse and restaurant at Brentwood Country Club.

Another spot to explore is the Sisters of St. Joseph complex, a convent-school-community center with a 200-acre campus that has meadows, woods, a meditation labyrinth and several Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm programs, including Thera Farm, which operates a produce stand on the grounds. There's a BOCES program there as well, and a workforce training center is planned on Crooked Hill Road to boost educational and career opportunities for Suffolk County residents.

“There’s a lot to take advantage of in Brentwood,” Rodriguez said.

A three-bedroom ranch built in 1959, this home is set on a 75-by-125-foot flat lot. It has an eat-in-kitchen, updated bath, one-car garage and an unfinished basement with access to the back door. Taxes are $7,642. Anthony Picone and Lee Ann LaDonna, Rocket Realty Assoc., 631-607-8880.

This two-bedroom ranch was built in 1970 on ¼ acre. It has 1½ baths, a full finished basement, den/family room, a formal dining room and a laundry room. Taxes are $7,079. Marjorie Torres, Millennium Homes, 516-527-1769.

Crooked Hill Rd.

Second St.

Dickman St.