REAL ESTATE

INSIDE STORIES BEHIND AREA REAL ESTATE DEALS

A Palm Tree Grows in Fairfield?

Pundits called them "oases," those micro-markets that continued to thrive even as the national real estate picture got grim--then grimmer--as 2007 progressed. The ingredients "oasis" markets share include close proximity to a job market, great schools and high-end housing. And while those attributes could be applied to most of Fairfield County's 'burbs, some of them are doing better than others, with the town of Fairfield emerging as one of the palm-iest oases of them all. By summer's end, the year-to-date sales volume had increased 20 percent over 2006 sales for the same time period. The average price has also ticked up four percent--to about $878,000--with homes selling at an average of 96 percent of their ask. Looking within the micro-market, it's been Fairfield's best neighborhoods that have fueled this upward trend: Southport, for instance, saw sales volume increase 33 percent and the average sales price rise 28 percent. Therefore, we start this month with a roundup of homes from Southport, Sasco Hill and Greenfield Hill, some of Fairfield's most desirable addresses.

Southport Village
$7 million

This pocket-size enclave on the Long Island Sound has a gorgeous collection of Federal-style and Queen Anne Victorian antiques built by the sea captains who plied Southport's picturesque harbor. Today the harbor still bustles, but with vessels owned by resident CEOs, who also enjoy the luxury of a lovely little train station you can actually walk to. Easily the most regal Queen Anne is the John Hoyt Perry house, a beautifully restored, circa-1882 estate on 4.42 acres. The current owners recreated every detail of the home's ornate decor while adding a few fanciful flourishes of their own: nearly every inch of the interior is embellished with custom-carved woodwork (including redwood paneling), gilded detailing, stained- and leaded-glass windows and antique Minton tiling.