Property, Grounds & Garage Videos
Property & Grounds
The Garage
Details
With 22 acres of pristine wilderness and 275 feet of beach front, the estate at Smuggler’s Cove is utterly unique among island properties currently on offer. It was conceived to be as much a private nature reserve and park as a home, and as such was laid out to be minimally intrusive to its native surroundings. Access roads follow natural openings in the woods, and structures were placed along openings in the overstory to help preserve the property’s wildlife habitat and ecosystem. At the garden’s heart is a twenty two foot wide elevated reflecting pool which provides a glassy sea of calm amidst the ever-changing woodland.
A host of carefully selected native plantings help bridge the divide between man-made structures and the forest, creating a series of delightful garden stops along the hiking trails and roads within the estate. A gated formal garden sits behind a groomed mature hedge, and functions as a glorious outdoor room for specimen plantings, vegetable gardening and outdoor entertaining. Indeed, the grounds of this estate offer an edited and meticulously curated commune with nature that is nothing short of spectacular, comparable to some of the most noted gardens in the region.
The property comprises a private well district, and each building has a dedicated septic system with nine leach fields that can support a fifth structure. A built-in generator provides power in case of outages, and there are two boathouses along the beach. According to the current owner, the private lagoon supports some of the best fishing on the island, and there is an easement down to a neighboring state park. Useless Bay Golf Club is a short drive to the south.
The entire estate was developed within a one-year timespan by a team of five general contractors all reporting to noted builder Bob Arndt to minimize long-term impacts on the land, and to ensure an unbroken sense of continuity of materials and structures. This gives the whole estate a rare sense of homogeneity that makes it feel hewn from a single palette of native stone and timber. Smuggler’s Cover is imbued with a lodge-like permanence and maturity that belies its relatively recent completion in 1994.
The oversized garage is as much an owner’s retreat as a utility structure. Fully finished and heated, it offers numerous bays for vehicle collections or gardening equipment, and includes infrastructure that can support everything from use as a woodshop to a hub for full vehicle restoration. At present, it functions as a utility area with a pocket billiards table and display spaces for a lifetime of collections. In addition, the building features a large office, paneled in knotty pine with its own bath.
The building is designed to allow for conversion into another home, should the new owner desire it. It’s architectural style blends perfectly with all of the other structures on the estate, and the quality of its construction fully supports such an evolution of use.
