- A red single-lane

A red single-lane covered bridge in Cornwall, a popular weekend town in northwestern Connecticut.
By C. J. HUGHES Published:
February 9, 2008

THE way bumper stickers and T-shirts tell it, husbands would rather be fishing. But that doesn't mean they can't be house-hunting at the same time. In fact, a second home that sits just steps from a favorite fishing hole may be what all serious anglers dream about. Well, Bruce Whiteford made it happen. In May, he bought a house in Cornwall, a Litchfield County town in northwestern Connecticut whose ragged western border is formed by the Housatonic River, where he has fly-fished for years. His two-story house, built in 1900, has four bedrooms, three baths and 3,400 square feet under its gabled roof, and sits on about half an acre in West Cornwall, one of the town's three sections (with Cornwall Village and Cornwall Bridge). The house, which cost $500,000, also has a sunny studio where the previous owner used to paint - in Cornwall, creative types, like bass and trout, are plentiful - and that will be put to good use by Mr. Whiteford's wife, Briggs, who also paints. Both of them, and their two children, are also pleased that their country retreat is just 50 miles from their year-round home in Katonah, N.Y., a hamlet in Westchester County. And much of that drive is on uncrowded and scenic back roads. "Cornwall doesn't take a lot out of you to get to, and to go home from," Mr. Whiteford said. "And even though it's fairly close, it seems very rural and quaint." Its quaintness sometimes seems to channel Currier & Ives, especially in West Cornwall. There, a 242-foot-long red covered bridge, wide enough for just one car, drops drivers amid a tidy clutch of 19th-century wood-frame buildings. The village is protected on three sides by pine-laced hills. In Cornwall Village, slender rock posts in front of center-hall colonials are topped with metal rings once used by travelers to tie their horses. And in Cornwall Bridge, Greek Revival homes with thick pilasters are squeezed between river rapids and railroad tracks. That historic charm sealed the deal for James Sheffield. Twenty-five years ago, he paid $180,000 for a 2,500-square-foot house in Cornwall that has four bedrooms and three baths and is on five acres down a dirt road. Today, it could fetch $700,000, he said. A devout canoeist and kayaker, Mr. Sheffield, who lives in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, raves about Cornwall's bodies of water, including the Housatonic, Mohawk Pond and Cream Hill Lake. The town's charitable spirit also earns his praise. Residents actively support neighbors who need help, said Mr. Sheffield, who once ran an international health agency. Volunteers with the local chapter of Friends in Service of Humanity - FISH in Cornwall - for example, drive elderly residents to doctors. In addition, a local foundation, the Wilbur A. Johnson Fund, can be approached to help pay bills for heating oil. As it is, Cornwall's skyrocketing house values make living there too expensive for some local residents, Mr. Sheffield said. "But we've mobilized ourselves to deal with the challenges," he added. The Scene With five-acre zoning throughout much of Cornwall, there's typically a lot of space between homes, allowing for plenty of privacy. During the winter, Mohawk Mountain Ski Area is a draw for those who like to hit the slopes where snowmaking was pioneered back in 1949. Mohawk, in its 60th year, now has 24 trails, half open at night. A lattice of cross-country trails - hiking paths come summer - also graces the town. A fairly flat section of the Appalachian Trail, along the river in Sharon next door, is also a popular place to ski. Writers who call the town home, like Alex Prud'Homme, occasionally stage readings at the four-year-old library in Cornwall Village. The former library, next door, now holds town offices and a community center and was the site of a three-hour contra dance on a Saturday night last month. Restaurants in Cornwall are few and far between, though places like West Cornwall's Wandering Moose Cafe, which serves three meals a day, pick up some of the slack. The corner table provides a near-perfect view of the covered bridge. There are only a handful of working farms left. But weekenders often lease parts of their land to farmers to grow crops, or even just give them their pasture grass, which becomes cow feed, in exchange for mowing it. Bucolic landscapes are a result. Further solidifying the town's rural nature is that much of the land is protected state forest. Also, hundreds of acres are permanently off-limits through easements, in which property owners donate future development rights to private conservation groups in exchange for tax benefits. The West Cornwall Market, which sold groceries, closed last December after a three-year run. Although Baird's General Store in Cornwall Bridge sells locally grown produce, for large grocery purchases, residents must drive to the Super Stop & Shop in North Canaan, 16 miles from the town hall. The Real Estate Market There are just 833 residences in Cornwall, according to a recent tax assessment, and they don't change hands often, real estate brokers say. And what does sell tends to be expensive. Home values increased by up to 50 percent from 2001 to 2006, with the average house and lot now worth $467,000, according to tax records. Ten houses sold in 2006, according to the Connecticut Multiple Listings Service. They ranged in price from $275,000 to $1.8 million, with the most expensive houses situated in West Cornwall and Cornwall Village. The average price, $686,000, might be for a house whose oldest section dates from the mid-1800s, with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and at least three acres of land, according to Frankie Winter, an agent with Sotheby's International Realty in Washington Depot. Such a house has probably also had just a few owners, which means that outbuildings may need a lot of work, especially if they're going to be turned into guest cottages or offices, Ms. Winter said. Cornwall homes are generally listed at about 10 percent less than similar ones in Roxbury and Washington, two weekender-friendly towns to the south, according to current listings. Brand-name cachet could explain the difference, though Cornwall buyers, according to brokers, usually use different criteria. "Cornwall is not so flashy," Ms. Winter said. "It's definitely a lower-key spot." For those fortunate enough to have big plots of land passed down through generations, building can be an option. Adam Van Doren put up his own 3,500-square-foot, two-story shingled home in 2001. It has four bedrooms and three baths, and is on a former farm near West Cornwall that his grandfather bought in the 1920s. Mr. Van Doren, a watercolorist who lives in Manhattan during the week, shares the 200-acre compound with his parents, uncle and cousins, who have their own homes. But the land, said Mr. Van Doren, seems uncrowded and pastoral. "If my grandparents came back," he said, "they would actually recognize this. " Lay of the Land POPULATION 1,489, according to a 2005 estimate by the Census Bureau, plus probably at least 1,000 weekenders. SIZE About 46 square miles, including Cornwall Bridge, Cornwall Village and West Cornwall. WHO'S BUYING Painters and fly-fishers, New York City bankers seeking rural retreats and European investors in the market for third homes. GETTING THERE Cornwall is about a two-hour drive from Midtown Manhattan. From the Triborough Bridge, take I-278 to the Hutchinson River Parkway, to I-684, to Route 22, and head north for 20 miles to Wingdale, N.Y. Drive east on Route 55 to Route 7, then north 12 miles to Cornwall Bridge. WHILE YOU'RE LOOKING Until May, off-season rates are available at the Cornwall Inn & Lodge (270 Kent Road, Cornwall Bridge; 800-786-6884; www.cornwallinn.com), where the 13 rooms start at $119 and include breakfast. Thursday through Sunday nights, the inn's restaurant is open for dinner, and on the first Friday of every month, the adjacent tavern, with the only full bar in town, features local bands playing folk-rock, blues or zydeco. Slightly north, find the Hitching Post Country Motel (45 Kent Road, Cornwall Bridge; 860-672-6219), where 12 rooms, most with king-size beds, cost $65 until April, when warm weather kicks in the higher seasonal rates.