The front façade of 310 Oakland Beach Avenue
By Robin Jovanovich
In the early years of the 20th century, right after World War I, there was a cottage industry — literally — in Rye. A colony of homes sprung up along Oakland Beach Avenue off Milton Road, because of a visionary, one H. Leland Magill, architect, builder, and manager of what became known as Milton Gardens. (The name was dropped after the stock market crash in 1929.) Magill built modest homes to lease to young families who wanted to exchange urban life for a leafy suburb, one within blocks of Long Island Sound.
The best part of the story is that most of those century-old English Colonial cottages are still standing.
One of our favorites is the yellow one with white columns and blue shutters at 310 Oakland Beach Avenue. It’s been in the same family, a family that prizes the past, for the last 30 years. They’ve loved the surprisingly high ceilings, kept the painted floors, and enjoyed the second-floor balcony porch and being part of the backyard scene on “Sunset Circle”, the cul-de-sac where many an impromptu party, holiday gathering, and Easter Egg hunt has taken place. The door to their screened porch is always open.
They will miss those events, as well as the abundant privacy and charm, but with the children grown the owners have decided to move on.
This small but well-built and designed abode is ready for a young family or an older couple who don’t want to downsize to a condo and want to remain part of a tight-knit neighborhood.
The house has six bedrooms, one or two of which would make the ideal playroom or home office.
Beth Jamison of William Raveis is the listing agent.
