Conservationist selling $1.125 Shelter Island home
The waterfront home of a Shelter Island conservationist has come on the market. Owned by Judith Christrup, associate director of philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy, an environmental charity, the home is listed for $1.125 million.
The two-bedroom, three-bathroom cedar-shingled Cape sits on Fresh Pond, the island's only freshwater lake that locals call "the jewel of Shelter Island," says listing agent Penelope Moore of Saunders & Associates.
"It is located in a particularly lovely spot facing due west on Fresh Pond, with the sunsets right in front of you," Moore says.
Christrup has owned the home, built in 1956, for 13 years. The double-height living room, dining area and family room all overlook the lake.
"It is an incredibly special place, with the colors of the sky changing hour by hour and the moon reflecting on the lake at night," Christrup says. "There is always something happening here, whether it's seeing a fox scampering across the yard, a bald eagle landing in an oak tree, or a cardinal singing its own unique song from a high perch. And then there is the sheer variety of bird life attracted to the fishing opportunities the freshwater has: buffleheads and cormorants in the winter, and egrets and herons in the summer, and the osprey, of course."
The house overlooks Turkem's Rest, six acres of preserved land that the Town of Shelter Island purchased in 2006. It is named for a Native American known as the Turkey Man, who lived in the nearby woods.