The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Beach home with sunset views
Reflective light, blue and pink skies, and sunset views drew seller Diane Brown to purchase this home in Joshua Cove. In 2010, after living in Sag Harbor on Long Island, Brown immediately fell in love with the home and its location. “I find a cove is so wonderful because it has its own ecosystem,” she said, describing myriad wildlife, birds, and seasonal changes. “On a cove you can see autumn when you look across the cove. You can see when it turns autumn and spring.”
The spot, which includes a small private beach, allows for water sports, including waterskiing, kayaking, and sailing. “This is water you can actually play in,” Brown said. Low tide in the cove opens a path to the Thimble Islands and the area is known for great fishing and clamming. In addition to seawater from Long Island Sound, there’s an inlet from a river and a marsh.
Rose Ciardiello, listing agent for William Raveis Real Estate, who said the bright home has been updated and lovingly wellmaintained, echoed Brown’s comments about the beautiful sunsets and views from walls of glass. “It does not matter the season, what time of day, you just have these views, these vistas,” she said. The home opens to the kitchen with views from sliders and bay windows. “The house is filled with light and brings the outside in; you immediately feel part of the outside,” Brown said. Brown explained that she used warm shades of yellow in the kitchen and granite resembling sand to enhance the feeling being “part and parcel with the land.” While washing dishes, gardens she planted come into view. A labor of love with flowering trees and successive blooms, the gardens also augment privacy. The kitchen opens to the central hallway off of which is an open space containing the living and dining rooms. The living room has a fireplace, built-in bookshelves and cupboards; the dining room has sliders to an exterior deck. French doors open to the office. The main floor also has a guest room and a mud room that leads to the two-car garage.
Upstairs, the huge master suite has a wall of glass, a double closet, and a bath with double sinks. The finished basement has been converted into a man cave with a TV room, a bedroom, and a cedar closet used as a wine cellar. Doors open into a laundry room and storage area, as well as a crawl space for additional storage.
The wide driveway is lined with irises, peonies, azaleas, and hydrangeas. According to Brown, the property has been the setting for parties and fun. Part of a book club, she has had meetings on the patio and more seating on the upper deck and inside. On the Fourth of July, she invites friends and family to play games and watch fireworks. According to Brown, the eclectic neighborhood has “a wonderful mix” of people who are warm and welcoming who get together for holidays. There’s a public beach and an unofficial park. Ciardiello said the neighborhood was like a family and recalled when she was a nanny there and described walks with the children, who would run up and knock on doors. People would greet them warmly and come outside, offering snacks or letting them play with their dog.
Brown, who is moving to be closer to her children and grandchildren, said she would most miss sitting on the deck at night. “You just want to watch the day end beautifully,” she said. “It’s a vacation in itself.” “When you die and go to heaven, this is where you end up,” her husband, Carl Cornaglia, said.