By Gretchen A. Peck

If you’re in the market for an island getaway that’s fully furnished and ready to move right in for the summer season, look no further than just off the southeast Connecticut Coast, to 1 Mouse Island, Groton.

The small, less than 1-acre island is found near the mouth of the Mystic River, just off Morgan Point in Fishers Island Sound. In May 2017, Groton Town Historian Jim Streeter wrote about Mouse Island for The Day. Streeter explained how the island is believed to have gotten its name from the indigenous Mashantucket tribe, who leveraged the island for drying their fishing nets—though this is lore and never officially documented. For a brief time around 1900, the island was referred to as “Muse Island,” but the new name didn’t stick.

Streeter went on to explain how the island was once home to five cottages—all destroyed by the devastating 1938 hurricane. Three new cottages were built over the course of nine years. 1 Mouse Island was the first. It debuted in 1939.

Jill Simeone has owned 1 Mouse Island for nearly 20 years. She recently listed the property for sale, with an asking price of $900,000. She enlisted Nassim Saad, a Realtor with RE/MAX On the Bay in Niantic, as the listing agent.

Simeone spoke with Welcome Home about her family’s time owning the special property. “I bought the home as a single woman. I was dating my future husband then, and he and I really fell in love with each other in this home,” she said.

She recalled the house was in good condition when she discovered it. It was off-grid but it did have a “land line” phone. They added a propane-fueled generator and active solar for power, plus an on-demand hot water system. Beyond that, they relished in the simpler, low-tech lifestyle the island affords. They didn’t need to power a lot while they were in residence there for the summer. “I love a French press coffee,” she said, ‘and there wasn’t a need for air conditioning, because it’s never been hot out there for 20 years. It gets great breezes.

“We go out there because we want to enjoy the sound of the water,” she continued. “We want to wind down. We want to have conversations. We want to cook meals. We really like to decompress and enjoy summer. I very much like the nostalgic idea of summer.”

They’d open the cottage every spring and close it for the winter in October.

Years ago, Simeone discovered some historic photos of Mouse Island at the Mystic Seaport, from different eras and representing different families who owned the cottage. They bought some of those images and have them on display.

“The whole first floor has a really open plan, so no matter where you are, you can see out the windows in every direction, clear to the water,” she said.

“It’s not a fussy home. We wanted to maintain sort of a country cottage feel, but we also wanted to be comfortable,” she added. “There are lots of places to sit and read books, and I’ve read 1,000 books in that house.”

By virtue of being on an island, there’s a certain level of privacy for the property, but the seller said that they’ve enjoyed a friendly and supportive relationship with the seasonal residents of the two other cottages.

A 18-foot Eastern skiff, with a Honda four-stroke engine, conveys with the property, as well as a slip at Spicer’s Marina in Noank.

“The dock is one of the major improvements we did when we got there. There was a ramshackle dock there, so we got the new one approved by the DEP and the Army Corps of Engineers to have it built, with pilings and a floating dock,” she explained. It is shallow by the dock, so it requires a smaller tender rather than a larger, deep-water boat.

Modern, frenzied life surely melts away when you’re on the island, which has a quiet way of reminding one of the past.

“We’ve found Native American arrowheads on the island. … And for some reason, it’s a great location to collect incredible sea glass that washes up on one end of the island,” the owner said.

From morning ‘til evening, the views change and inspire awe.

“In the primary bedroom, you wake up and since it looks east, you see the sunrises. The sun comes up over the water, and it’s just the most magnificent morning,” the seller said.

With 1,531 square feet of living space, the house accommodates a family and guests.

“The house has four bedrooms, but it sleeps eight very comfortably,” Simeone added. “That allowed us to invite other friends and families to come out with us. Friends would come with their kids, and we’d spend weekends there. We’d go clamming off the dock and make chowder. We’d get lobsters, have cookouts and s’mores out at the fire pit. It was really an amazing way to just slow down and have an old-fashioned summer.”

Property: 1 Mouse Island, Groton

Bedrooms: 4

Baths: 1

Square Footage: 1,531

Acreage: 0.27

Asking Price: $900,000

Seller’s Agent: Nassim Saad, RE/MAX On the Bay, Niantic; Mobile: (203) 641-7912; nsaad23@gmail.com