A few months back, realtor Charlene Tobin traded in a 6,000 square-foot home on a big piece of property in Purchase for a more manageable home in the Hidden Falls community in Rye Brook.

 

 

 

 

 

By Robin Jovanovich

 

A few months back, realtor Charlene Tobin traded in a 6,000 square-foot home on a big piece of property in Purchase for a more manageable home in the Hidden Falls community in Rye Brook.

 

 

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“My husband and I wanted to stay around here,” said Tobin, an associate broker at Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty in Rye. “We looked in Connecticut but thought, ‘Do we really want to spend a good part of our lives on I-95?’” And they wanted some outdoor space, so they crossed Manhattan off their list.

 

What they discovered was a house they were able to fix up to their taste that requires much little maintenance and offers the living and entertaining space they need, including a two-tiered deck looking out over the pond.

 

“Hidden Falls is the perfect empty nester spot,” said Tobin, who has already participated in the sale of two listings there.

 

“Many people, not just baby boomers —10,000 of whom are retiring every day — are thinking smaller. With a weak economy, younger families are thinking smaller too.”

 

The beauty of Hidden Falls is its location — walking distance to the Rye Ridge Shopping Center and the newly restored Capitol Theatre on Westchester Avenue. (Tobin has tickets for the Moody Blues concert.) The complex has a clubhouse and pool and is adjacent to Crawford and Rye Hills parks, where beauty and recreation abounds.