Real Estate Confidential is a weekly chit chat about new listings, sales, or other insider info on the Martha’s Vineyard real estate market, by Fred Roven, Martha’s Vineyard Buyer Agents. It appears each Friday in The Minute.
You can’t beat the undeniable sanctuary of a screened porch. There is real joy in simple pleasures, and that is what screened porches are. You get to experience the positive aspects of sitting outside and relaxing without having to experience the negative aspects of it, like high winds, bugs or scorching sun. Almost every client, while previewing a home, enters the screened porch and instantly gets that sense of peace and quiet. In some, not only do you experience the serenity, you also see features to be expected in a Martha’s Vineyard luxury retreat. Before air conditioning became widely available, screened porches were the sought-after place to escape summer heat. Now they are extensions of the home, with stone fireplaces, pizza ovens and flat-screen TV’s plus plenty of comfy chairs and sofas to enjoy it all.
The screened porch is a place to enjoy nature — and not just its sights but also its smells, sounds and tastes — while protected from mosquitoes and other annoying bugs, especially at night when lights glow at sunset. When the weather cooperates, spending a night sleeping in a screened-in porch can be the perfect escape, waking refreshed ready to enjoy another day in paradise. Many screened porches have glass or lucite inserts that can help make the porch more of a four-season room as fall approaches,.
You can find screened porches in every area of Martha’s Vineyard, in every price range and they can enhance your enjoyment of summer. Whether you are searching for a casual, affordable home with large screened porch in Chilmark, or a waterfront estate in Edgartown for $21,000,000, there is a home for everyone. Some have views over vast expanses of conservation land, others have water views that go forever, and others provide views of spectacular sunsets. In one case you can watch the full moon rise out of the east as the sun sets into the ocean.
The contemporary tucked into the dunes at 7 Maple Hill Road in Aquinnah is an enchanting property. The screened porch, as well as most rooms, has the most incredible South Shore ocean views. How to decide whether to enjoy the porch, second floor protected roof deck or third floor tower with its views of the South Shore, Gay Head Cliffs and lighthouse for the sunset hours will be a difficult decision. The property features include deeded beach rights a short stroll away, open floor plan with fireplace, first floor bedroom with a second fireplace, A/C, stone walls, pond, hot tub, hiking trails, and a guest wing all sited on 3 acres of privacy and seclusion.
The colonial style home at 32 Harthaven Road in Oak Bluffs overlooks both Farm Neck Golf Course and Tradewinds airfield. Spacious does not begin to describe the screened porch that overlooks many acres of conservation land and encourages the most exclamations of surprise from my clients. The very desirable Harthaven community offers association beaches, boat harbor, tennis and easy access to Tradewinds hiking trails. The home is being sold turnkey and features include a lower level family room/office, air conditioning, and two-car garage.
I cannot miss this opportunity to mention one of my favorites at 80 Obed Daggett Road in Lambert’s Cove. At this point I should probably just go ahead and buy it myself. I can assure you almost total silence except sounds mother nature provides from this screened porch. The home features great light, an open floor plan with soaring ceilings, and deck giving a tree-house feel plus peeks of the water. Your private deeded beach access is an easy walk/bike/drive from the house and includes parking plus extensive walking trails at Cedar Tree Neck, both wooded and along the shore, which is just beyond the beach access.
More and more, buyers are understanding the rural and unspoiled qualities of West Tisbury with antique homes, stonewalls, farms, galleries, endless hiking trails and public beaches on both the north and south shores. On historic Music Street sits a tastefully renovated and expanded front porch farmhouse with that peaceful feel as you pass through an arbor, brick-walk past the gazebo and through the gardens before even entering the tastefully renovated and expanded home. A short walk to Alley’s, the Farmers Market, Field Gallery, library, and the best sandwich on Martha’s Vineyard (call or write for sandwich details).
For a look all properties currently for sale with a screened porch, check out Martha’s Vineyard Screened Porch Homes.
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