chappaqua, N.Y.: a westchester hamlet that’s ‘not cookie-cutter’
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By Anne Mancuso | Published on June 15, 2022
Tara Watnik knew that she and her family would leave their Bronx co-op for a house in Westchester — eventually. But her husband, Scott Watnik, a partner in a Manhattan law firm, grew up in Riverdale, and they liked living in his childhood neighborhood, which was close to her job as a communications director at a private school and an easy commute for him. Then Covid hit, and they decided it was time to get serious about moving.
After seeing “more houses than I can remember” in Chappaqua, where they had friends, Mrs. Watnik said, they closed last October on a four-bedroom, three-bath house on a little over a half acre, paying $1.25 million. The property included a two-bedroom, two-bath cottage that they’ve been renting out.
Mrs. Watnik, 44, said her husband, 45, has “grown to love” the small-town feel of the Westchester hamlet, where you can “get a little bit more for your money in terms of land and space. It’s not like other sections of Westchester where the houses are on top of one another.”
Deena Bouchier, the Compass agent who worked with the Watniks, has lived in Chappaqua for 23 years. She and her husband, Rick Bouchier, an advertising sales consultant and Chappaqua native, bought a three-bedroom fixer-upper in 1999 for $310,000, then traded up five years later to a four-bedroom house for $745,000, where they raised their two children and still live.
“What’s beautiful about Chappaqua,” said Ms. Bouchier, who grew up in Queens, “is that it’s not cookie-cutter. We have antiques, Capes, old estates and McMansions — we have it all.”
Many of her clients from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Jersey City and southern Westchester no longer commute to work and are looking for houses farther north where prices are lower, she said. Recently, however, with low inventory, even those houses have become more expensive. While the market has cooled a bit, she said, some buyers are still closing quickly to lock in interest rates, which are “creeping upward.”
What You’ll Find
At just under a half square mile, about 30 miles north of Manhattan, Chappaqua is one of two hamlets in the town of New Castle, along with Millwood. According to 2020 census figures, it has a population of 2,628 and a median household income of $149,832.
Census figures list a little over 1,000 housing units in the hamlet. According to the New Castle Assessor’s office, there are about 4,200 residential properties and 602 condominiums units in several developments within the Chappaqua Central School District. (Real estate listings for Chappaqua properties often include homes in Millwood and in parts of neighboring towns that fall within the Chappaqua school district.)
There are two rental buildings in the hamlet. One, near the Metro-North train station, has about 28 one- and two-bedroom apartments at state affordable rates. The other, the Cupola Apartments, has about 60 units, both affordable and market rate. “It is the first truly integrated mixed housing development in Westchester,” said Sabrina D. Charney Hull, the director of planning for New Castle.
Under construction nearby is a Toll Brothers development called Chappaqua Crossing Carriages, which will have 91 two- and three-bedroom luxury townhouses, expected to sell for $1.2 million and up.
The Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, a 425-seat venue run by the town of New Castle, offers family entertainment and is home to the Westchester Theatre, which closed its 46-year dinner-theater operation in 2020 because of Covid. Performances have since resumed; “Menopause: The Musical” is featured this month (sans dinner).
The New Castle Recreation and Parks Department has its own schedule of events at the community center on Senter Street and the arts center on Hardscrabble Road. Other recreation opportunities include hiking trails in Gedney Park and other green spaces. While there is no community pool, there are several private tennis and swim clubs in the area.
What You’ll Pay
Rising interest rates and stock market fluctuations have slowed home sales a bit recently, resulting in fewer bidding wars and lower prices, said Alicja P. Bohmrich, a salesperson with Houlihan Lawrence. But for those paying with cash, the market is brisk.
In early May, a five-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath house listed for $1.125 million sold for $1.45 million in an all-cash deal after five days on the market and seven bids — three of them all-cash offers over $1.4 million, Ms. Bohmrich said.
According to the office of the New Castle Assessor, the median price for a single-family home in the Chappaqua Central School District during the first quarter of 2022 was $957,000, down from $975,000 during the same time period last year.
In late May, 27 single-family homes in Chappaqua were listed for sale on the New York Suburban Homes website, from a four-bedroom, two-bath, 1,804-square-foot 1954 house on an acre, listed for $699,999 with taxes of $11,284, to a five-bedroom, nine-bath 1995 house on four acres, listed for $3.599 million with taxes of $87,587. Eight houses had listing prices with substantial reductions, from $50,000 to more than $100,000.
According to a mid-May market update from Houlihan Lawrence provided by Ms. Bohmrich, condominium inventory was down 43 percent from this time last year, while the median condominium sale price of $640,000 was up 28 percent. In early June, three condos in the Chappaqua Central School District were listed, including a $699,900 two-bedroom, two-bath, 1,549-square-foot unit with taxes of $8,354, and a $1.499 million two-bedroom, four-bath, 3,154-square-foot unit with taxes of $10,436.
Monthly rentals of single-family homes with two or three bedrooms can run from $2,500 to $5,500, while houses with four or more bedrooms can fetch $10,000 and above. But “inventory is tight” for house rentals, said Joanna Rizoulis, an associate broker with Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. More likely to be available for rent are condominiums, which can run from $3,000 to more than $6,000 a month.
The Vibe
When Lisa S. Katz, the New Castle Town Supervisor and a 15-year Chappaqua resident, experienced car trouble on an early visit to the hamlet, multiple people turned out to help. “The moment we got here,” she said, she and her family felt the hamlet’s “sense of community.”
Several organizations help to acclimate new residents, among them Chappaqua Neighbors Club, which informs its 100 dues-paying members about book clubs, walking tours, mahjong games and discussion groups. A Facebook group called Chappaqua Moms 2.0 helps residents connect with service providers and offers other information; its leader, Georgia Frasch, is also president of the New Castle Historical Society, based in the 19th-century Greeley House on King Street, a place she calls a “center of culture, history and learning.”
Crowds gather on Saturdays at the Metro-North train station, where a farmers’ market is held from April to November and a free swap of household items called “Take It or Leave It” goes on year-round.
Bobo’s Cafe, also at the train station, is a popular spot for coffee or a quick bite. Fancier fare can be found at Crabtree’s Kittle House Restaurant & Inn, and Susan Lawrence Gourmet Foods offers casual outdoor dining and takeout food.
The Schools
The Chappaqua Central School District serves approximately 4,000 students, the majority of whom live in Chappaqua, Millwood and the town of Mount Kisco, with others residing in Pleasantville, Ossining, Briarcliff Manor and Armonk. It comprises three elementary schools, two middle schools and Horace Greeley High School.
The high school, on a 56-acre college-like campus, is ranked 17th among New York high schools by U.S. News & World Report, which also reports the student body makeup as 74.6 percent white, 12.9 percent Asian, 6.6 percent Hispanic and 0.9 percent Black.
According to the district, 98 percent of the Class of 2021 at Greeley High School went on to two- or four-year colleges. Average SAT scores were 652 in evidence-based reading and writing and 661 in math, compared with statewide scores of 526 and 531.
The Commute
The ride to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan takes just under an hour on the Harlem line of Metro-North Railroad. A one-way, off-peak ticket bought in advance is $11.25; the peak fare is $14.75. A monthly ticket is usually $322. Annual parking permits at the train station are $500 for residents and $1,300 for nonresidents chosen by lottery.
The History
The area where the hamlet is now was called Shappequa by the native people of the Wappinger Confederacy; the Quakers who settled there in the 1730s called it Chappaqua. The arrival in 1846 of the New York and Harlem Railroad brought city residents in search of fresh air and water, and businessmen arrived to open shoe and optical-glass factories.
Notable individuals who have made Chappaqua home include the writer Lillian Hellman; the father-and-son actors Adam and Alan Arkin; the former Miss America Vanessa Williams; the publishing executive Earl G. Graves Jr.; and former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.