Highlands model homes offer ‘fewer walls, more light’
In late April, developer Steven Dubb closed on a deal to purchase the 14 remaining lots at the 42-acre Highlands Club at Aquebogue on Sound Avenue.
Now, after reconfiguring and meticulously staging the site’s two model homes, the rest of the lots are ready to be sold.
“We’ve been looking at [the North Fork] for a number of years and have just been waiting for the right opportunity to come along,” said Mr. Dubb, 28, a principal of The Beechwood Organization in Jericho. His father, Michael, founded the company in 1980.
“[The North Fork] isn’t a market we’ve built in before,” the Amagansett resident said, “but it was attractive to us because it’s really, really beautiful.”
The 14 properties, located next door to Long Island National Golf Club, are priced from $499,900 to $589,900 and boast between 2,300 and 3,000 square feet of living space. They feature ground-floor master suites with tray ceilings, hardwood floors, spacious family rooms with 22-foot ceilings and two-car garages. High-end finishes like quartz kitchen counter tops and 42-inch cabinets come standard with each one or two-story house. Two-story designs include an inviting window seat. On-site shared amenities include a clubhouse and fitness center, an outdoor pool and a tennis court.
The model homes were built in 2006 by Westminster Communities.
“We came in and saw the existing models and wanted to change them to match the Beechwood style,” Mr. Dubb said. “That meant floor plans that were more open, sort of more efficient — geared toward today’s buyers and their tastes and what we thought they’d want to see in either a primary residence or a second home.”
Mr. Dubb, who made his foray into East End development last year with the launch of Bishops Pond at Southampton Village, said North Fork buyers are typically 55 and older and that many prefer first-floor master bedrooms.
“What we tried to do is make the floor plans more accessible and then open them up: fewer walls, more light, higher ceilings,” he said. “Something that’s well thought out without a lot of zigs and zags.”
That’s exactly what would-be North Fork residents look for in a home, said Sheri Winter Clarry, licensed associate real estate broker at Corcoran in Southold.
“I definitely see that the baby boomer generation wants masters on the first floor,” she said. “And it’s all about that open kitchen slash great room. The days of the formal dining room and separate living room are over.”
Indeed; if the first two weeks on the market are any indication, Mr. Dubb’s vision was spot on. One lot has already sold for $525,000 and two more are expected to close in a matter of days.
“The response has been good,” he said. “We have a lot of buyers who are interested in moving here, or who have moved out here, who don’t want to be on the South Fork because it’s too congested now. They like the idea of living on the North Fork.”
Longtime residents who fear the region could evolve — or, in their eyes, devolve — into a clone of the Hamptons, with its frenzied pace and traffic, shouldn’t worry, Mr. Dubb said.
“What I really like about Riverhead — and home builders are sort of typecast as people who pave over forests and farmland — is that it has strong statutes about farmland preservation,” he said.
Indeed, much of the land along Sound Avenue in Aquebogue is actively farmed or has been preserved as farmland or open space. Suffolk County purchased the 307-acre North Fork Preserve in recent years and last month preserved 14 acres of farmland west of the Highlands Club.
“That means the character of the North Fork, unless those rules change, will really kind of remain the way it is,” Mr. Dubb said.
With that said, he and his team are exploring new sites in the area.
“We’re looking at a couple of different projects out here,” he said. “And they’re similar in style and pricing [to the Highlands]. From the response we’ve had in the last two weeks, I think there’s a future for Beechwood here, which I’m really happy about.”