By Gretchen A. Peck

Realtor Kathy Pupa, who’s affiliated with William Pitt Sotheby’s brokerage in Mystic, introduced 148R Stoddards Wharf Road, Gales Ferry, to the market this week. The asking price for the four-bedroom single-family home on 3 acres—complete with a pool, an oversized garage, bocce court and gardens—is $450,000. Earlier this week, Welcome Home spoke with the homeowner about the property.

The seller and her husband bought the house in the spring of 2001. Built in 1955, the original house was a Sears Craftsman-style ranch, the owner noted. Over the decades, it was expanded to the 1,560 square feet it is today. The land was once part of a family farm.

There is some discrepancy in the amount of acreage noted on the property’s MLS and sites like Zillow, which have the lot at 1.79 acres. The owner explained how she recently appealed to the town to combine two lots—an adjacent parcel that was undeveloped—creating a setting of more than 3 acres.

The main level of the house affords a living room, an open-plan kitchen and dining area, and three of the four bedrooms, including the primary suite.

Over the years, the owners made some improvements to the property. They’ve updated the kitchen twice. They added more insulation to create a more energy-efficient and comfortable home. They installed new siding and recently put on a new roof.

In the spring of 2022, she reimagined the kitchen for a second time, creating a bright and inviting work space and gathering place. She had the cherry hardwood cabinets professionally prepped and painted.

“We bought all new appliances and switched over to gas, instead of the electric range. We had a new floor installed, which tied everything together, and we replaced the countertops on the island, choosing a butcher block,” the seller said. The rest of the counter surfaces are granite.

The house also has a walkout lower level, with the fourth bedroom and a family/rec room.

The backyard, with the in-ground pool, was the perfect place for summertime family picnics and hotly contested bocce tournaments, courtesy of the bocce court they added to the property.

Around the yard, they’ve added perennial plantings and also created bountiful vegetable and cutting gardens. She recounted how she’d start seeds in the potting shed, planting them after the threat of frost passed. She’s cultivated broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, squash, heirloom tomatoes, peppers and pole beans.

“Probably the most significant thing we’ve done is all the work on the yard. There wasn’t a single garden here when we moved in,” she recalled.

“We’d lived here for about six months before 9/11. Our kids were about nine and 12 years old at the time, and I was trying to get them outside and away from the TV. So, we went outside and started digging up what would be the first of our gardens, started on September 11th. And it’s been a labor of love since,” she said.

Her husband made his mark on the property, as well.

“There was a detached garage here, a small cinder-block structure,” the seller said. “It was hard to keep two cars in there, because you could barely open the door without knocking into the other car. … When my husband retired, he decided he’d had enough of the small garage thing, so he built a barn-style garage. Friends helped. They built the main part one year, and then the following year, they added the second, open bay.

“Then, he added a last section, which we referred to as the boat shed. The main part of the garage, with the tallest part of the roof, has engineered trusses, and there’s a big bonus room up there,” she noted. “It’s not finished, but if someone would like to finish it and put a man cave up there, or a workshop, you could.”

Asked about the location, the owner said they’ve appreciated the central location, about halfway between Ledyard’s center and Gales Ferry.

“It’s very convenient to the sub base, EB and Pfizer, and it’s completely off the road here, so it’s really quiet at night, with gorgeous stars—and yet 15 minutes to anything,” she said. “That’s been great—living in a nice small-town community, but being close to everything.”

Property: 148R Stoddards Wharf Rd., Gales Ferry

Bedrooms: 4

Baths: 3

Square Footage: 1,560

Acreage: 3.0

Asking Price: $450,000

Seller’s Agent: Kathy Pupa, William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Mystic brokerage; Mobile: (860) 608-0041; kpupa@wpsir.com