Hedges Index: Finding Home-Loving 4s

Image: 123RF
Image: 123RF

The East End real estate and residential building markets have seen a considerable boom in 2020, with many summer visitors choosing to stay indefinitely and others looking to buy, rent or build–anything they can do to stay in this slice of paradise long-term. As the real estate market enters the fourth quarter of 2020, we look across the Hamptons and North Fork for interesting instances of the number 4, believed to be the number of the home-loving.

Number of New York State beaches in Montauk: 4

Total area of Southold Town: 404 square miles

Number of housing units in Northville: 401

Number of households in Laurel: 452

Total population of Quiogue: 844

Southampton Village, Photo: Barbara Lassen
Southampton Village, Photo: Barbara Lassen

Highest recorded population of Southampton Village: 4,904 (1970)

Percentage of Sagaponack residents who work from home: 43.5% (2018)

Percentage of Quogue residents with a graduate or professional degree: 41%

Percentage of Riverhead Town residents under the age of 5: 4.4%

Median age of Riverhead Village and Tuckahoe residents: 44 (individually)

Year that Water Mill’s Grist Mill, the first watermill in New York State, was built: 1644

Listing price of a five-room Sag Harbor bungalow on the water in 1944: $4,200

Listing price of a four-bedroom Montauk home with beach access in 1954: $14,000

An ad for Capt. Bert's in the September 1, 1964 issue of The Montauk Pioneer
An ad for Capt. Bert’s from 1964

Per-person rate for a room at Capt. Bert’s Lake Montauk Motel in 1964: $4 per night

Summer rental rate for a three-bedroom home in East Hampton Village in 1974: $4,000 per month