Why You Should Buy Their House: Bayport
Ken and Penny Hodge of Bayport stand in their home's "bottle house," which was built with 3,000 bottles during Prohibition. Today it serves as a year-round spa with a hot tub. (Aug. 5, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Sellers Ken and Penny Hodge
Address 34 Bay Ave., Bayport
Asking price $599,999
The competition Similar size homes in the Bayport-Blue Point school district are listed between $419,000 and $895,000.
Recent sale in the area In May, a seven-bedroom antique-style house on Middle Road sold for $895,000.
Taxes $11,919
Time on the market Since January
Listing agent Judy Schill, John V. Potter Inc., East Islip, 631-581-2800
Why it’s for sale: The Hodges, who have been married 41 years, are ready to downsize. Penny, 66, a housewife, has lived in the house for 60 years, while Ken, 69, moved in when they married. The couple have two children: John Kenneth (“JK”), 36, and Lisa Smigiel, 48.
Ken, who worked in construction, has put a lot of work into this house, which now has 10 rooms, including five bedrooms. The original 900-square-foot carriage house, built in 1876, had two bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a small family room. “We added 1,800 square feet up and down,” Ken says. Modern amenities — such as four-zone heating, a central vacuum system, new windows and an updated kitchen with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances — blend with vintage features that include a partial tin ceiling in the kitchen, a built-in bookcase in the living room, wood floors, moldings, wainscoting, gingerbread accents and two staircases. One of two bathrooms is designed with a claw-foot tub and pedestal sink. The property — almost a half-acre — has a patio with an electric awning and a “bottle” house, which was built with 3,000 bottles during Prohibition. Today it serves as a year-round spa with a hot tub. Ken chats more about the house:
“In the family room, we have a walk-in hearth where we put in an airtight stove. It’s against a wall made of Westminster fieldstone. Both the mantel and the ceiling beams came from a Methodist Church ... We had a lot of fun putting things together.”
