Press

"Six Find Profit in a Series of Harbor Makeovers"
by  Amanda Star Frazer
 The East Hampton Star, June 24, 2004
 

Sag Harbor's the Place for 'New Old Houses'

At first glance, Glover Street appears idyllic, a Sag Harbor lane of historically detailed houses that could date from the days of whaling. Anyone who hasn't seen all the construction there wouldn't know that a major wave of renovation has been underfoot.

The subtlety of the change is, in fact, the point. It is the result of the "Glover Six" touch, as the men behind all that construction work refer to themselves.

Six men have bought, historically renovated, and in some cases sold "new old houses" on Glover Street, all of which have nearly doubled in value since they bought them. A corner house on a three-quarter-acre lot, which was abandoned for over 20 years, recently sold for over $2 million.

The men responsible for at least six of the houses — those shown on the John Jermain Memorial Library's house tour last year — know well the value of Sag Harbor's past, and strive to replicate that old world quality. In fact, many of the houses that look like 19th-century restorations were built in the 1970s.

Bob Tortora started it all. As he toured a few of his houses recently, he explained the development of this niche in the real estate market. "It all started with a 1978 teardown," he said, walking toward his first Glover Street renovation, the house in which he still lives.

After many summers in Southampton, Mr. Tortora had asked a realtor to find him "a fixer-upper on the water in Sag Harbor." They looked at one house, he said, "and I've bought seven since."

That first house had belonged to Vitali Cilli, of the farming family of that name. (Mr. Tortora is, in fact, the realtor for the Cilli property, across the street. It is for sale.)