Column: Memories of Island house hunting, old school

As I was driving up from the North Ferry recently, my mind began to wander back to almost a half century ago when my wife Karen and I decided to look for property on this Island.

I had been here in the 1950’s to visit my aunt and uncle and liked the Island. So we decided that it was worth looking at for a summer place. We were both working upstate but were living in the city for the summer. We had $2,000 saved which seemed like a good amount for a down payment.

So on a hot July Saturday we took the long trip to Shelter Island. And it was long. The expressway was not completed. The trip without traffic would take 3 hours.

The ride up from the ferry was about the same as it is now with most of the same buildings and shops, except for Greg Price’s real estate office — the building was torn down and we now have Volunteer Park. And adjacent to the liquor store was a one -story building with a sign “EE Johnson and Son.”

There’s a multi-story Victorian real estate office there now.

The old Jag we were driving had overheating problems. So with steam coming out from under the hood, we pulled into Piccozzi’s where we filled up with gas and water.

From there we explored, finally arriving at the Midway Road bungalow that belonged to my Aunt Florence and Uncle Eddie, the Warrens. They had not come out for the weekend. Very rare.

We pulled in the driveway, sat at a table in the back and had sandwiches we had purchased from Ketcham’s store (where the Tuck  Shop is now).

I remember the long row of blue hydrangeas bordering the property by Johnny Crook’s old driveway. By this time, he was gone and the old house stood empty on the hill, a monument to his lost love.

I also noticed an old decaying Ford in the field on the other side of the property. Jim Devlin built his house there in 1983.

We had to remind ourselves that we had a drive to make back to New York later in the day. I never worried about driving in the dark back then, or driving an old roadster with overheating, charging and exhaust problems. I was young and could fix anything.

I remember driving through the Center to get a sense of the Island. My wife loved the small-town feel to the place — the school, the library, the Legion Hall and the war monuments, Nevel’s Luncheonette, Town Hall — all reminded her of her family’s summer lake cottage  in Indiana.

We pulled into Hickey and King Real Estate located where  Dr. Kestler’s dentist office is now, I think. The woman who greeted us was friendly and helpful, letting us know that she had a few places to show us in our price range. She also wanted to know why we chose Shelter Island. I explained.

There were pictures of properties for sale ranging in price from $15,000 up to $50,000. For $50,000 one could get a palace on the water. Our interest was in the homes on the other end.

The agent drove us to see three different homes that were listed for $15,000. One was in the Heights, one was in the Center by the cemetery and another on South Midway.

Not one of them really ignited our interest. So we left the Island without making any purchase and did not think about it until a few years later when my aunt and uncle decided to sell.

We bought the house and the rest is history.