Riverside home is near schools
This four-bedroom single-family home has been improved and expanded by current owner
The four-bedroom single-family home at 45 Lockwood Lane in Riverside is offered to the market for $2.225 million. The listing agents are Megan Sullivan and Kim McConnell, Realtors with Sotheby’s International Realty.
The seller, John O’Brien, spoke with Greenwich Time about the property, which he acquired in 2000. There was a little mystery about the age of the house, which dates back to the 1930s. However, during close inspection of the foundation, O’Brien discovered more modern masonry, which defied the age. It turned out, the house had been moved to the spot in the 1990s, when the then-owner relocated it to be closer to family members who had homes in the immediate neighborhood.
O’Brien recalled considering another home over the border in New York, but the endearing nature of this home, combined with Greenwich’s considerably lower property taxes, sealed the deal. He was charmed by this house, including the period fireplace in the living room. But the house proved small for their growing family, prompting them to renovate and expand the house in 2005. It took approximately 18 months to complete and nearly doubled the square footage.
Today, the house affords 2,966 square feet of living space. The expansion allowed for the addition of a garage and a primary bedroom suite that’s privately positioned in the second-level floor plan. It has an abundance of closet space, with organization built in. “I didn’t want to have bureaus,” the seller said. The primary bedroom also has a charming private balcony.
The main level affords a foyer, living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, mudroom, and one the home’s three baths. The four bedrooms are all on the second level, including the primary suite. Plus, there are two smaller bonus rooms in the floor plan that may work well as home office spaces.
The driveway, which is shared with one neighbor, now leads to an attached two-car garage. The grandscale renovation and expansion allowed the homeowner to reboot the landscaping, which was “like the barren surface of Mars” during the project. They retained a mason and began hardscaping the yard. They took down an old deck and rebuilt a new one. They even added a koi pond to the 0.28-acre setting.
“It’s just a little water feature, but in the summer, you can open the windows at night and hear the water. It’s peaceful,” he said.
Though buyers considering the home in the coming days will see the yard in its dormant late-winter state, when spring arrives, it’s lush and colorful with perennial plantings. “It really starts to pop in the spring,” the seller attested.
“We’re probably most famous in the neighborhood for Halloween,” O’Brien said. With children at home and the COVID-19 pandemic bearing down on Connecticut
in 2020, the family wanted a way to celebrate Halloween safely.
“For the first 18 years living here, we didn’t get a single trick-or-treater for Halloween. Who knew it only takes a couple of 12-foot skeletons from Home Depot and some animatronics to get over 3,000 people to see our home last year,” the seller said. The Halloween display was so popular, local news outlets reported on it, and people from across Connecticut and New York came to check it out. “All of the [political] candidates and elected officials came, too, because it was right before the election.”
The homeowner described the neighborhood as family-friendly, diverse, conveniently located, and reminiscent of his own childhood, growing up in a close-knit community. They’ve appreciated local amenities, like the beach and nearby tennis courts. He recalled many years spent commuting home on the train from New York City and going to the beach to unwind, to enjoy dinner there with the family
and watch the kids play in the sand. “It was the most relaxing thing in the world,” he said.
“We’re basically steps from the middle school and very close to Riverside School,” he noted. The O’Brien family will remember this home fondly as they move on to their next. “It’s just time to pass the house on to
someone else,” the owner said. “We’ve loved the house and neighborhood.”